Unattainable
by widi96
Summary: Bella has a crush on her best friend's big brother. Edward feels Bella is unattainable, both because she is his sister's best friend and because she would never go out with a jock like him. Will they learn each other's true feelings? Will it last?
1. Chapter 1

EPOV

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I sighed, if had to listen to that ring tone one more time I was going to break the phone. My twin sister, Alice, had left her phone in the living room in her hurry to get out the door to meet her boyfriend, Jasper. It had been ringing incessantly for the last twenty minutes, making it impossible to concentrate on the calculus homework I was attempting to work on. I glanced outside, it was another dreary rainy day in the small town of Forks, WA. It had been storming pretty hard earlier, but now was just a soft drizzle. The perfect afternoon to curl up on the couch and get caught up on some homework. I know it isn't what a typical 16 year old would be doing on a Saturday afternoon, but I had opted out of going to Seattle with my friends and was content spending the day in front of the fireplace.

My thoughts drifted to Alice and Jasper. Jasper had transferred to Forks High at the start of the school year and he and Alice had been inseparable since. They couldn't be more different, but they complemented each other well. Alice was short with spiky black hair while Jasper was tall with wavy blonde hair. Alice is a jumping bean ball of energy, while Jasper is calm and rational. They treat each other with such love and respect. Although I knew that if I was being truthful with myself, I was envious. I wanted someone to love me the way Alice loved Jasper.

Unfortunately the one and only I want to feel that way about me is both unattainable and untouchable. Bella Swan. The beautiful, intelligent Bella Swan. She was unattainable because she was beautiful and smart and shy and would never be attracted to the attention seeking jock persona that everyone in Forks saw me as. She was untouchable because she is Alice's best friend. Alice would kill me if I messed with Bella. Alice didn't put up with anyone messing with Bella.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I gave up on the homework, tossing it aside and reaching for Alice's phone. I flipped it open without looking at the caller ID.

"A . . Al . . Alice!" the panicked voice trembled. I could hear the sobbing on the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry, Alice isn't home," I started, genuine concern in my voice.

"Ed . . Edward?"

The voice was still trembling but recognition dawned on me. "Bella?"

"Yeah . . " she stuttered. "Where's Ali?"

"She's out with Jasper. Bella, what's wrong?" I didn't deal well with crying girls to begin with and absolutely hated hearing Bella so upset. It tugged at my heart and I would do anything to take her pain away.

Bella choked, more sobs escaping her lips. "When's Alice going to be home?"

I ran a hand through my disheveled hair. "She won't be home for a couple of hours. She left her phone here." I hesitated for a moment, then continued, "What's wrong, Sweetie?" That term of endearment was acceptable, given her emotional state at the moment, wasn't it?

Bella was still sobbing and I couldn't make out most of what she said. "Bella, I need you to take a deep breath." I paused, "Can you do that for me?" I could hear the shuddering breath. "Now, can you tell me what's wrong?"

I still couldn't make out all of the words she spoke, but got enough. "I . . I . . .the car . . water . . . hydroplaned . . . hit a tree."

I shot up off of the couch, my heart in my throat, already heading to my car. "Bella, where are you? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," she shuttered. She proceeded to direct me to the road she was on.

I talked to Bella the whole time I was trying to get to her, attempting to console her. If she truly was fine and it was just the car, I couldn't quite understand why she was so hysterical. I mean, I love my car, but plastic and metal are always replaceable. Eventually I had managed to talk her into getting back in the car to get out of the rain. She had calmed down considerably and instead of sobs I now heard her scattered hiccups. It wasn't a few moments later that I pulled up behind Bella's car, arriving much faster than I legally should have. I was out of my car in a flash and over to her driver's side door. At first glance, the car didn't look too bad, but there was some damage to the right front side. My heart nearly broke in two when Bella stepped out of the car. She looked like a drowned rat. It didn't appear there was a dry spot on her, her hair and clothes both dripping they were so soaked. She had mud all over her jean clad legs, covering one arm and smeared across her cheek and chin. Her eyes were swollen and red from all of her crying.

"Jesus Bella," I breathed. Bella took a hesitant step toward me. I noticed her hand when she stepped forward and immediately grabbed for her wrist. "You said you weren't hurt!" I really didn't mean for that to come out as accusatory as it did. If seeing Bella upset hurt, seeing her physically injured was excruciating.

"It's nothing." Bella stated firmly, pulling her arm back. "I'll be fine."

I sighed and looked at Bella kindly and started in my most persuasive tone, "May I please take a look at it?"

Bella hesitantly held her hand out to me. I gently held her wrist with one hand while the other worked to remove the blood spotted make shift bandage she had applied. I gasped when I saw the gash across the palm of her hand. I held her hand as tenderly as possible, "Bella, how did you do this?"

I kept my eyes on her as she started to explain, "It . . It didn't even happen in the accident." She blew out a big breath, "The car still seems to run and I thought if I could pull the bent pieces off of the tire, I might be able to get home."

I gave her a confused look, also taking a cursory glance at the rest of her body to make sure there were no other injuries she was attempting to hide.

"My hand slipped when I was pulling on the metal piece." Bella waved her good hand to her body, "That's how I ended up looking like this. When I lost my grip on the metal I fell into the mud."

I looked between her and the car, unsure of how to proceed. "Bella, I think I need to take you to the hospital to get stitches." Bella was not going to like that thought. She hated hospitals.

Bella shook her head. "I'm not going to make you take me to the hospital."

I cracked a smile at her, "It's kind of the other way around. I'm making you go to the hospital." I stepped around her to her car and reached in for her purse and book bag that were sitting in the passenger seat. I carried them back to my car and tossed them in the back seat as Bella followed me. I walked over and opened the passenger door for her, but she hesitated. For a brief moment I wondered what was so horrible about the thought of riding with me, then it occurred to me that she might not want to be in any vehicle with as traumatized as she appeared to be. I tried to give her my best reassuring smile, "I'll drive extra slow and careful."

Bella shook her head, "It's not that." She gestured toward the car and then herself, "I'll get your car all dirty."

It was true, I did love this car, but the last thing in the world I was thinking about was that Bella might get it a little muddy. I wanted her out of this rain and her hand fixed up. Those were the priorities at the moment. I looked back at Bella, but she shook her head again. Stubborn girl. I left the door open and quickly popped the trunk open, pulling out a blanket that was stored there. I laid it across the passenger seat and again motioned for Bella to get in the car. This time, she followed my instruction. "I'll wash your blanket," she muttered as she climbed in.

On the ride to the hospital I learned why Bella had opted to call Alice instead of her father – he had gone out of town this morning and wouldn't be returning until Wednesday. Apparently he felt Bella needed someone to stay with her while he was gone and she had insisted she didn't need a babysitter. She had won the argument and didn't want to let him know that she had gotten herself into trouble on the first day.

I saw Bella tense and a few more tears slip out as we pulled up to the hospital. I quickly rounded the car so I could open the door for her. "Hey," I said, wiping a few tears away with my thumb, "if you want, we don't even have to check you in. My Dad's working today – I'm sure we can get him to take a look at it." Bella seemed to perk up slightly at this news and let me lead her into the hospital.

Alice and I's Dad, Carlisle, immediately agreed to look at Bella's hand, as I had known he would do. I bent in front of Bella as she sat in one of the consulting chairs in Carlisle's office. I placed one hand on each side of her face, willing her to look at me. "I'm going to go take care of some things, will you be okay if I step out for a little while?"

I thought I saw a look of disappointment on her face, but it was quickly replaced. "Of course, I'm sorry I've ruined so much of your Saturday afternoon already."

I shook my head, "You haven't ruined anything," I reached out and tentatively ran my fingers down her cheek. "I'm just glad you're okay." And with that, I turned and stepped out of my father's office.

* * *

"Emmett, I need your help," I started. Emmett was my big burly brother. His size and demeanor could be extremely intimidating if you didn't know him, but for those of us in the know, he was just a big teddy bear. He was two years older than me and had opted to stay in Forks after he graduated from High School. I had a feeling that the majority of that came from him wanting to stay close to his girlfriend, Rose, who was a senior this year.

I quickly explained my problem, smiling when my brother's first reaction was the same as mine – an immediate need to know if Bella was okay. I knew it was just going to stress Bella out more having to pay to have her car towed to a shop, and there was no point to that. Emmett arrived at Bella's car shortly after I did, the tow kit already attached to his monstrous jeep. It took us a little longer than expected, but we managed to get the car attached and I followed Emmett to Hale's Garage. Rosalie's family had run the shop for years and Emmett had become an extremely good customer, adding all kinds of customizations to his Jeep, especially when he was first trying to get Rosalie to notice him. After a quick conversation with Rose's dad, we were on the road to having Bella's car repaired.

"Thanks Em," I said, patting his shoulder. "I owe you."

Emmett smiled at me, "Yeah, and don't think I won't take advantage of that."

* * *

When I arrived back at the hospital Bella was sitting on the couch in my dad's office. My dad had apparently let her use the doctor's lounge to shower and given her a pair of clean scrubs to put on. I never thought anyone could make plain light blue scrubs look as sexy as the beautiful girl before me. Even with her eyes still slightly puffy and red and her hand all bandaged, she looked gorgeous. She was curled up on the couch and it looked like she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Edward," Carlisle spoke, startling me and breaking my attention from Bella.

I coughed and shook my head, blatantly trying to cover for my staring.

Carlisle just smiled knowingly at me, setting the pen down on his desk and moving the paperwork aside that he had been working on. "Bella told me her father is out of town until Wednesday?"

I nodded, knowing my father would be about as happy with the fact that Bella was home alone as I was.

"Well, she can't stay there without transportation, plus I don't want her alone with as upset as she was today."

I took a cursory glance at Bella, her eyes were now completely closed. Carlisle must've seen my glance because he continued, "I gave her something for the pain and something to help her calm down. As upset as she was about the damn car, you would've thought she killed someone."

I smirked at him, having fully experienced Bella's hysteria earlier. "I'll take her to our house for now, you're going to have to convince her about the rest of the week. I think she was really hoping to prove to Charlie that she was capable of staying on her own." Truth was, I liked Carlisle's idea. It wasn't like Bella didn't spend most of her free time at our house, but this just seemed . . . different.

I headed toward Bella, gently shaking her shoulder and telling her it was time to go home. She slowly sat up, wincing as she forgot and used her injured hand to push herself up. She picked up the plastic bag that was at her feet, I assumed it contained her muddy ruined clothes. Bella had taken a total of two steps before she swayed and I wasn't completely convinced she wouldn't have gone face first into the carpet. I had my arm around her in a flash. I took the bag from her hand and gently placed her arm around my neck, placing my arm around her waist to steady her as I lead her back to my car.

An hour later we were back at my house, Bella had immediately curled up on the couch, insisting on staying in the living room until Alice got home. I sat on the opposite end of the couch, attempting to work on the homework I had out earlier, but truly just listening to Bella's soft breathing as she slept. I had finally managed to concentrate on the homework when I felt Bella shift next to me. She sat up and looked over at me and, for a moment, I thought she might start crying again. She leaned towards me and I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest when her soft lips connected with my cheek.

"Thank You Edward," she whispered. "I don't know what I would've done today without you." She paused for a moment, taking a shaky breath. "I'd probably still be sitting out in the rain on that road, freezing my ass off." She shifted so that she could comfortably lean against me, her head resting on my shoulder.

My heart was about to pound out of my chest. It's just the drugs. It's just the drugs. I chanted. Bella would not be this forward if she weren't under the influence of the medication Carlisle had given her. I was trying to quench the hope that was trying to spring thru in my heart.

"Well, we couldn't have that now, could we? That ass is far too cute to be frozen off," I said, trying to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere.

Bella giggled, but left her head against my shoulder. "Thank You," she said again before her breathing evened out and I was convinced she fell back asleep.

I was carefully reaching for the blanket to cover Bella when Alice came barreling in. "Where is she?" she screeched, running into the living room. I had called Jasper when Bella and I had gotten back to the house so that he would let Ali know what had happened, and that she needed to go over to the Swan's house and get Bella's stuff for her. There was no way Bella was going to be up for getting out again tonight.

"Shhh. . . " I immediately tried to quiet my hyperactive pixie sister.

Alice quickly shut her mouth, then quietly whisper demanded, "Is she okay?" pointing a shaky finger at Bella.

My arm tightened protectively around Bella. "She's okay Ali. Just shaken up. She cut her hand, but Dad got her stitched up. Nothing that won't be 100% healed in a week or two."

Alice took a deep breath to calm herself. "Thank god." It was then that Alice seemed to take in the scene in front of her. She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Edward," she started pointing a finger between Bella and I, "did something happen between you and B today?"

I sighed, wishing so much that Alice's wild imagination could come true. "No Alice. Bella tried to call you – but you left your phone here and after it rang for the millionth time, I answered it. Do you honestly think I wouldn't help her?"

Alice didn't look completely convinced. "No Edward, I know you would always help anyone in need. Especially a freaked out girl." She paused for a moment, "But you wouldn't go as far out of your way as you did for Bella today." She took a seat in the chair next to the couch, looking thoughtful. "You should ask her out, you know. You two would be great together."

I couldn't believe my ears. Alice was okay with the thought of me dating Bella? Not only okay, but encouraging it. I shook my head, once again trying to clear the hope that was once again attempting to spring forth. Alice's approval was only part of the problem, it still remained that Bella wouldn't want a guy like me. She probably just saw me as a brother-type from hanging out with Alice.

I reached over and squeezed my sister's hand, "Thanks Ali, that means a lot to me. It's not going to happen, but thank you."

Alice's attempt to argue was short lived as Bella awoke to our voices, successfully ending that conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

BPOV

I tossed and turned in the bed, unable to sleep. My hand was throbbing and I couldn't get the events of the past few days out of my head. It was Tuesday, well, Wednesday I corrected myself as I looked at the clock. The bright red lights on the clock showing that it was a little after 2am. I had been sleeping in the Cullen's spare bedroom for the last few days, waiting for my car to be repaired. Carlisle had called my father and explained that he would be more comfortable if I stayed with them while Charlie was gone, something Charlie rapidly agreed to. Carlisle never once mentioned the accident, for which I was grateful. When I had woken up Sunday morning Alice had explained to me that Edward and Emmett had towed my car to the Hale's garage. I had called them first thing Monday morning to try to set up a payment plan and find out how long it was going to take to repair the car. Edward had convinced them to do it as a rush job and the mechanic I spoke to actually thought he could have it done by Wednesday, just in time to pick it up before Charlie had returned home. I could've kissed Edward for that, well, I could've kissed Edward for a lot more than that, but didn't think he'd ever be interested in that. Why would the gorgeous, intelligent, athletic, sweet Edward Cullen ever be interested in me? Plain Jane bookworm Bella Swan. The answer was simple – he never would.

I turned one more time in bed before giving up. I threw the covers off, intent on sneaking downstairs and taking another one of the painkillers Carlisle had brought for me. Carlisle said I managed to cut my hand quite deep and was actually very lucky I didn't end up in surgery for tendon damage. I was sneaking back up to the room when I heard it . . the quiet sweet music of the piano. I quietly snuck around, opening the door a crack and peeking in. Edward was hunched over the keys, dressed only in some flannel pajama bottoms. I could see the muscles in his back flex and contract as he appeared to pour his soul into the music he was playing.

"It's beautiful," I whispered when he finished the song. His head whipped around so fast I'm surprised he didn't hurt his neck. If the situation had called for it, it would've almost been funny.

"What are you doing up?" He questioned, his brow furrowing in concern.

I held my injured hand up and the glass of water. "My hand was aching, so I came down to get some pain medicine."

I bravely sat down next to him on the piano bench, "That song you were playing was beautiful," I repeated. "What's it called?"

Edward ran a hand through his messy mop of bronze colored hair. He appeared self conscious, for what I have no idea. "It doesn't exactly have a name yet. It's kind of a work in progress."

I gasped, realizing for the first time that this wasn't Edward playing some piece that some professional had written, this was his own composition. "Wow," I muttered, watching as he nervously played with one of the keys.

We talked for over an hour, about his music, about school, anything and everything basically. I was thrilled that Edward seemed comfortable enough to talk with me like this. It was nearing 4am when I started yawning.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," he whispered, taking my hand and leading me back up the stairs. "Night Bella," he whispered, kissing my cheek before turning and heading toward his room.


	3. Chapter 3

Two Weeks Later

BPOV

"Alice! What are you doing to me?!?!" I screeched as Alice pulled out my supposed Halloween costume.

It was the Saturday before Halloween and Tyler Crowley was throwing a Halloween party that Alice had insisted I come to. I'm not sure why, it's not like she'd be spending any time with me anyway – she was always glued to Jasper's side at these parties. She kept insisting that I needed help with my 'socialization skill'. Although I had a feeling she was going to attempt to set me up again. Alice didn't care for my non-existent love life.

"No," I repeated, backing against the wall as Ali continued to come at me with the 'costume'. For some unknown reason, Alice thought I should be a cheerleader for the party and had borrowed one of the official Forks High cheerleader uniforms, complete with a few Alice modifications. She had adjusted the top so more of my belly had to show and shortened the skirt to a certified mini. I guess I should be grateful she wasn't attempting to put me in heels. It didn't go with the outfit.

"Come on Bella, you know you are going to put this on, whether you like it or not."

For a supposed best friend, the little pixie could be vicious. Half an hour later I was dressed in the cheerleader uniform, my hair half up with Forks blue and white ribbons tied in. Despite my continued protest, Alice also made me wear make up. I was actually pleasantly surprised though when she drug me to the mirror. Except for the lack of fabric on my outfit, I actually looked kind of cute. The eye liner and eye shadow Alice had used went with the blue outfit and really brought out my eyes. I took a deep calming breath and followed Alice out of my house and toward the party. I was driving tonight because Alice had a penchant for getting a little tipsy and I was also her DD for the night.

It was a little after 8 when we pulled up to the Crowley's house and the party was already in full swing. There were Halloween decorations everywhere and most everyone had dressed up in costumes. I smirked to myself, at least I wasn't the most underdressed, Lauren and Jessica barely had scraps of fabric for costume. I think they were supposed to be variations of some type of superhero. I suddenly felt much better about my outfit.

Alice stayed by my side for the first half hour or so, dragging me from group to group to socialize before she found Jasper. We'd been talking with a group of boys and I was certain that my cheeks were never going to cool from the bright red that currently emblazoned them at the attention I was receiving. I about fell over laughing when I saw Jasper though – while Alice had her cute Tinkerbelle costume, she had apparently ordered Jasper into a Peter Pan outfit. Alice and Jasper headed towards the dance floor, leaving me with the boys. It wasn't long after that I saw Edward, looking absolutely gorgeous in khaki pants and a dark blue button down shirt. I excused myself from the boys Alice and I had been talking to and made my way through the crowded room to Edward.

Grinning at him, I pointed to his outfit, "How in the world did you make it here without Alice dressing you up?"

Edward grinned at me, "Oh, I have my ways." He took a cursory glance at my outfit, but continued to look me in the eyes, unlike the previous individuals I had been speaking too. "Nice skirt," he smirked.

"It's all your evil pixie sister's doing. If it were up to me, I'd be in my jeans and hoodie."

Edward shrugged, "Yeah, that's more you," he paused, then added, "but that does look damn good on you."

I lost track of time standing there talking with Edward. It was just to easy to talk to him.

"Bella, would you . . . " Edward started, but was quickly interrupted.

"BELLA!!!" a strong masculine voice yelled. The next thing I knew I was being thrown over Jake's shoulder and hauled into the crowd, my skirt flying up so everyone got a view of my ass. I am so going to kill Alice.

"Jake! Put me down!" I yelled, hitting his back with my fists. I was probably doing nothing but bruising my own hands, but it felt good to attempt at least.

Jake set me down once we'd reached the middle of the make shift dance floor. "Not until you dance with me at least once," he argued.

I laughed and shook my head. "And that Tarzan routine was supposed to convince me of that?" Jake was one of my oldest friends, I'm pretty sure our father's left us on the bank together when we were still in diapers so they could go fishing.

"Eh, that was just so I didn't have to watch you and Cullen make gooey eyes at each other anymore," he said with a shrug.

I felt the familiar red blush creep up my cheeks. "I was not making gooey eyes at Edward," I mumbled, staring at the floor. I gave into Jacob's dance request if for no other reason than to get him off the subject of Edward and I. It was his feet he was sacrificing.

An hour later I was somehow still on the dance floor, though this time my dance partner was much more entertaining. Emmett and I almost matched. I saw Rosalie standing off to the side in a football jersey, while someone had managed to get a huge customized cheerleader uniform for Emmett, complete with pom poms. Thankfully, the skirt for his was much longer than mine. I was still laughing with Emmett when I saw Edward sitting on the couch across the room. Lauren Mallory and her scantily clad superhero costume were practically in his lap. He did not look pleased and I knew the sight put a frown on my face. And then she kissed him.

* * *

EPOV

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I ran my hands through my messy bronze hair, watching Bella be hauled off by Jacob Black. I knew they were good friends, but the way Jacob looked at her left little doubt that he wanted more. I watched long enough to see him set her down and Bella blush and look down at something he said to her. I guess that's what I get for getting my hopes up.

Watching them dance was too much and when Jasper offered me a beer, I gladly accepted it. An hour or so later I was on my fourth beer, maybe it was my fifth. I'd never had much desire to drink and knew I had a low tolerance for alcohol, but drinking myself into oblivion seemed like a good idea at the moment, but with ever drink I took I knew I was becoming more heartbroken over Bella. My attention was so focused on her, I didn't even notice when Lauren curled up next to me. I knew she was trying to get my attention but I really couldn't have cared less. I was still in my own little Bella obsessed world when I felt Lauren shift and suddenly her lips were on mine.

Even in my inebriated state I was well aware that I had no desire to kiss Lauren. I gently pushed back to on her shoulders and slid farther away from her. I was trying to be a gentleman about the whole situation, but Lauren was making it extremely difficult. She pushed back against me and swung her leg over so that she was straddling me. I quickly stood, knocking Lauren to the floor.

I wandered around aimlessly until I spotted Mike and a few of the other guys from the baseball team. They seemed to be laughing and having a good time.

"You want in on this Cullen?" Mike asked. He appeared to be collecting money from the rest of the guys in the group. We all had a tendancy to gamble more than we should.

"What are we betting on this time?" I asked, reaching for my wallet.

James smirked, "These losers don't think I can get that hottie over there into bed before the end of the night."

I slid my wallet back in my pocket, not glancing back at whomever he was referring to. James exploits with girl was not something I needed to bet on. "I think I'll pass on this one guys."

"See, even Cullen thinks James will get into Swan's pants, or, er, short little skirt," Eric chimed in.

That caught my attention, "What?" I screeched, jerking my head around for the first time to see that James had, in fact, been motioning towards Bella a moment ago. My hands involuntarily curled into fists and I was seething. "You will not go anywhere near Bella Swan."

James laughed, "What, you interested in her Cullen?" He shrugged and made a few explicit and derogatory comments about Bella's body, "I'll tell you what, I'll go in and get her loosened up, then you can have the leftovers."

I lost it, I absolutely lost it. I flew at James, landing a right hook square on his nose. I felt his fist connect with my lip before w were both on the floor, arms and legs swinging at one another. A few moments later I felt strong arms pulling me back, restraining me.

"Edward," Emmett yelled, tightening his vice grip on my arms. I saw Jasper in front of me, holding James back.

I jerked against Emmett, trying in vain to hit James again. "If you touch her, I swear to god, I'll kill you!" Emmett tightened his grip on me and we both nearly fell backwards. It was a good thing Jasper had a good grip on James.

"Forget it," James yelled, turning out of Jasper's grasp, "She's not worth it." And with that James stormed off in the opposite direction.

I sagged back into Emmett, bringing a hand up to assess the damage to my lip. It was bleeding, but I didn't think I'd need stitches.

Emmett pulled me back and out of the house, "What the hell was that about Ed?"

I didn't know how to answer that. How did I explain myself to Emmett without him getting suspicious of my feelings for Bella? I just shook my head.

Emmett's expression softened. He knew I had quite a temper, but also, that I didn't get that furious without a good reason. "I'll go get the girls. We need to get out of here before James decides to come back and we all get in trouble."

* * *

BPOV

I had seen the fight. Pretty sure everyone did. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I saw James fist connect with Edward's face. I'm pretty sure I didn't take a breath until James had finally turned and left, although I had felt slightly better seeing Emmett and Jasper get involved. I left Angela's side to join the boys outside, but ran into Emmett before I could make it there.

"Is Edward okay?" I asked, willing him not to notice the shake in my voice.

Emmett shook his head, "He'll be fine. I think we'd better get out of here though."

I nodded, "I'll go grab Ali."

Alice was concerned about Edward, but wasn't exactly in a hurry to go.

"Don't worry Bella, I'll get her home," Jasper said, walking up behind them.

I eyed Jasper warily, "Weren't you drinking earlier too?"

Jasper laughed and smiled confidently at me. "I had a beer about two hours ago, I'm fine." I could tell from the twinkle in his eye that he wanted more time with Alice, but at the same time was happy with my protectiveness of her.

I nodded in acceptance and headed back to find Edward, Emmett and Rosalie. They were just outside the back door, discussing arrangements to get home. Rosalie was Emmett's ride home, but her little convertible would only fit two people.

"B, do you think you could give Edward a lift home since you're already taking Alice?" Rosalie asked, sending dirty looks Edward's way. I'm sure she was pissed at him for drinking and not making arrangements beforehand.

I looked down to my feet, playing in the grass with my shoe. I had been alone with Edward on numerous occasions before, but it seemed so different with no one else around and in a dark car. "Uh, sure. But Alice is staying with Jasper."

"Look," Edward looked thoroughly embarrassed, "I'll find a lift from someone later, I don't want to inconvenience anyone."

I know he was just trying to be polite, but the thought that Edward didn't want to accept a ride from me still stung. "Hey, come on," I pushed. "How far out of your way did you go for me a few weeks ago?"

Edward shook his head, "It was nothing, I wanted to help."

I snorted and bravely reached forward to take his hand, "Well, this is me wanting to do something to help you." I smiled reassuringly at him, "Besides, it's not like I don't drive to your all's house about daily anyway."

Edward reluctantly agreed and followed me to my car.

The car ride was quite, the only sound was my radio playing quietly in the background.

* * *

EPOV

I was fairly humiliated that I had to beg a ride off of Bella, but still responsible enough to know I had absolutely no business driving. I was trying desperately not to say something completely inappropriate and embarrassing in my mildly inebriated state. Silently cursing and thanking Alice for forcing Bella into that outfit. I was surprised when we got to my house and Bella got out of her car. She followed me up to the house as I opened the door for her. She made her way to the kitchen as I slid my jacket off. Bella spent so much time here, she probably knew this house as well as she did her own. I quickly made my way to the kitchen after her. She had pulled a zip lock bag out of the cabinet and already had it half full of ice and wrapped in a towel.

"Here," she stated, shoving the ice at me. "Put that on your lip, it will help keep the swelling down."

Leave it to Bella to try to take care of me even when it was my own damn fault. Well, the intoxication was my fault, the statements James made, well, that I blame on him.

"Thank You," I mumbled, placing the ice to my lip as instructed.

I watched as Bella pulled out some Ibuprofen and a glass of water and handed it to me.

"Thank You," I said again, catching her hand and squeezing it. "You're too good to me."

Bella shrugged her shoulders and smirked at me, "What, you mean you don't think Lauren would be attentive and know the difference between the Ibuprofen and the dog's antibiotic that you have stored up there?"

The reference was pretty funny but I couldn't understand her bringing Lauren up, and I certainly didn't understand the venom in her voice when she said her name.

"Pretty sure Lauren would've gone running the moment she saw the blood." I saw Bella cringe at the thought of blood. But there was one thing I had to set straight immediately. "Not that it would've made a difference anyway, she's not exactly my type."

Bella looked confused for a moment and then looked up to meet his eyes. "But . . " she stuttered, "you . . . she . . your lap."

I smiled and her blush intensified. She looked absolutely adorable. I laughed, trying to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere. "She wouldn't get off of me. You should've seen the look on her face when I dumped her on her ass on the floor."

Bella couldn't help but laugh, I could tell she was trying to hold it in. "I think I would've loved to have seen that." She smiled, that heartbreaking smile, at me. "Well, I suppose now that you are safely home and well medicated, I should head out."

"Thanks again, for everything." I offered, following her to the door.

Bella nodded, "Anytime." She turned and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later."

I stood at the door, watching as Bella got in her car and pulled down the driveway. I leaned against the door, placing my hand to my cheek, relishing in the feeling of Bella's lips being there.


	4. Chapter 4

BPOV

I'm just being a good friend. I'm just being a good friend. I had been chanting this to myself the whole ride to the Cullen house. I had received texts last night after the party from both Alice and Emmett. Some siblings they were, they both stayed the night at their significant others house. I was just going to swing by and make sure Edward was okay and, if he wanted, give Edward a lift back to his car. I know he didn't like leaving his car some place, especially with so many drunk individuals around, not to mention a pissed off James. I took a deep calming breath and knocked quietly. After knocking a few more times and more forcefully I let myself in. The Cullen's had always had an open door policy when it came to any of their children's friends.

"Edward," I called, not wanting to take him by surprise. No response. I headed up the stairs, wondering if he could possibly still be asleep. The door to Edward's room was wide open. He was lying on his stomach, sprawled out on the bed. His back was bare and his hair was sticking in every direction. I smiled to myself and headed back downstairs, unwilling to wake the beautiful sleeping boy. I made my way to the kitchen and pulled out a few more Ibuprofen and another glass of ice water. I took them upstairs and placed them on Edward's night stand, taking care to be extra quiet.

Since Edward was still sleeping, I grabbed my book from my bag and curled up on the couch. I was just getting into it when I heard movement upstairs. I could hear rustling, then the sound of the shower running. Twenty minutes later, a freshly showered and clean clothed Edward came gracefully down the stairs.

"Hey," he called, reaching the bottom step. He seemed surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged, "Ali and Emmett both told me how they didn't come home last night. I thought you could use a lift to your car."

Edward took a seat next to me on the couch.

"How are you feeling this morning?" I asked, reaching to touch his injured lip. He instinctively pulled back.

"It's fine," he muttered, suddenly seeming uncomfortable.

"So, dare I ask what the fight was about?" I chided, trying to change the subject.

Edward shrugged, looking uncomfortable again. "James was just being an ass." He paused for a moment, then looked up to look me in the eyes. "Do me a favor Bella, stay away from him." He was deadly serious now.

I had known of James for a few years and he was a complete jerk. Promising Edward I would stay away from him was no problem. "I promise." I said, smiling at him.

Edward shook his head, "Enough about the ups and downs of my night last night. How did you enjoy the party? You seemed to like talking to Jake and the guys from the basketball team."

"Yeah, it was okay. Jake is . . well, he's Jake. And the basketball team guys were nice." I muttered, my face already heating up.

Edward's brow creased, "Are you going out with any of them?"

I couldn't hold in the snort at Edward's comment. "No, I'm not going out with any of them. Jake is my friend, always has been and always will be. Nothing more. And those basketball guys, well, the attention was nice . . . but I think I'd rather have someone listen to what I have to stay instead of staring at my chest the entire time I'm talking."

Edward choked on the water he had just taken a swig of. "Well, yeah, I guess that's an important part." He seemed to contemplate something, then looked up again, trapping her in his gaze. "Okay, I'm not trying to defend the guys here by any means, but why did you let Ali dress you up like that if you didn't want them looking at you?"

Ahh. . why did he have to ask that question? Of all people, I really didn't want to admit my low self-esteem issues to the god that is Edward Cullen. He was so gorgeous, there is no way he would understand this. He'd never have to. I looked down at my hands, fiddling with the bookmark tassels on my now closed book. Not looking up, I decided to tell him the truth. "I guess it's nice to feel pretty every once in awhile."

I could hear Edward's sharp intake of breath. He reached out to me, putting a finger under my chin and forcing me to look at him. "Bella, you have never been merely pretty. You are absolutely gorgeous. I don't care if you are wearing your jeans and t-shirt or the short little skirt my sister forced you into last night. You are gorgeous." He said it with so much conviction he took my breath away and I swear my vision started to blur from the potential tears.

I stared at him, knowing I wouldn't be able to make a coherent sentence, so attempting to speak was out of the question. Edward slowly leaned towards me. My eyes fluttered shut just as his lips met mine. His lips were soft and gentle and his hands moved so that one was cupping my cheek while the other went around my back and tangled in my hair. I was in Heaven. Absolute Heaven.

We didn't break apart until we both absolutely had to have air and even then Edward leaned back to gently kiss my lips. Once. Twice. He was so soft and gentle. We sat there, arms around each other and staring into one another's eyes, just in our own little world. The chirping of my cell phone broke us both out of our daze and back into the real world. Silently cursing whoever had chosen now to send me a text message was a dead person.

I flipped my phone open. 'Thanks for getting E home last night. Call me when you get home from work. –Alice' It wasn't until then that I realized what time it was. "Oh god, I'm going to be late for work." I jumped up and scrambled to put my stuff back into my bag. Edward followed behind me, running a hand nervously through his hair. I got to the bottom of the porch stairs when I realized that he wasn't behind me. "What are you doing? Come on!" Apparently he didn't need to be told twice because Edward grabbed his keys from their place on the table inside the door and was instantly running after me.

We didn't speak on our way back to his car, neither of us sure what we should say. I pulled up next to his car and he hopped out, but not before leaning over and kissing my cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella," he whispered and I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat or two in there.

I'm not sure what I did at work beyond daydreaming about Edward. I couldn't believe what had happened this morning. It still seemed so surreal to me.

I made it home after seven and was completely exhausted. Charlie had ordered pizza, knowing I wouldn't be home in time to make him dinner. I grabbed a piece and immediately went up to my room to take a shower and get ready for bed.

It wasn't thirty minutes later when my cell phone rang. Alice. Shit. What was I going to tell her about this morning? Was she going to be mad at me?

"Hello," I answered tentatively.

"Why hello to you too," Alice joked. She seemed to be in a good mood. We talked for almost an hour about random things, never broaching the subject of Edward. Alice had to go on and on about how much everyone loved our costumes from last night.

"Alice, I have to talk to you." I stated suddenly when she stopped to take a breath.

"Okay . . " she seemed a little apprehensive.

I took a deep breath, unable to calm myself. "Edward kissed me. Please don't be mad. I couldn't take it if you were mad at me."

I continued to ramble until Alice screeched my name. "Yeah?" I said, my voice cracking.

"Finally." Alice stated. She waited for a moment before she continued. "I'm surprised it took him this long. I'm proud he finally got the nerve to do it. And at least it was this morning and not last night when he was drunk."

I was speechless. "You . . you're okay with this Ali?" I choked out.

She laughed at me. My little pixie best friend laughed at my hysteria. "Of course I'm okay with it. I love my brother dearly and I know he'll be good to you. And I love you too, and I know you care about my brother and not just his looks or our money. You'll be good together."

I sighed, filled with relief. "Thank God. I really thought you were going to be mad at me."

Alice laughed again, "Just be good to him Bells, and make sure he's good to you."

"Ali . . I don't know about all of this. I mean, we kissed, but then I got your text and realized I was late for work, so I rushed off and we didn't exactly talk about it. What if he was just caught up in the moment? What if he doesn't want to have anything to do with me?" I let out all my fears and frustrations that wracked my brain while I was at work.

"Bella, kissing you wasn't something that just occurred to him this morning. Trust me." Alice was so confident a small part of me couldn't help but believe her.

"Thanks Alice. I don't know what I'd do without you." And with that we said good night.

* * *

"Bella!" Rosalie screeched, running at me full force as I put my books in my locker. "What did you hear about the fight at the party the other night?" She demanded.

I shrugged, unsure where this excitement was coming from. Rosalie was usually pretty calm and collected. "I don't know. Edward wouldn't tell me."

Rosalie looked shocked. "B, you're the talk of the school today. Apparently James and some of the guys had a bet going about who could get in your pants first. They made the mistake of asking Edward if he wanted to join the wager and that's why he beat the shit out of James!"

I didn't know what to make of this information. For a moment, my insecurities got the better of me and I wondered if that was why Edward had kissed me. My heart plummeted at that thought. But I knew Edward, and he wouldn't do that. It wasn't just that it was me, Edward was old fashioned and I couldn't see him betting on that over anyone.

"He . . . got into a fight . . . over me?" I stuttered.

Rosalie grinned from ear to ear. "Yep. I told you he was as crazy about you as you were about him."

I blushed crimson as Rosalie skipped down the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

EPOV

I was nervous. Unbelievably nervous. I never get nervous around girls, but this isn't just any girl – this was Bella Swan. I'd dreamed of being with Bella for so long and I wasn't sure how she felt about what happened between us yesterday. What if she regretted it? What if she was just caught up in the moment? But the little bit of hope that I held in my heart asked - What if she had wanted that to happen as much as I did? I gathered my books and the peach roses that I'd bought for Bella and headed toward her locker. Rosalie had just turned and headed down the hallway when I turned the corner, thankfully, I really didn't need an audience for this.

I walked up behind Bella, putting the flowers behind my back. "Hey Beautiful," I whispered.

Bella turned and gave me a shy smile, a glorious red already tinting her cheeks. "Hi," she returned my whisper.

"I got these for you," I started, bringing the roses from my behind my back to present to her. "I know you talked about the peach roses that you loved so much at the park . . . " I was rambling and hoping to shut myself up before I made a complete fool of myself.

Bella bit her lower lip, the shy smile growing. "I can't believe you remember that. Thank You." Bella's smile was encouraging.

"So, I was wondering . . . if you would be interested in going to dinner with me tomorrow night."

Bella grinned from ear to ear, making my heart soar. "Like a date?"

I shuffled my feet, suddenly a little more uncomfortable for having to put myself out there like this. "Yeah, like a date."

The hall was getting less crowded as more students had made their way out to their cars. Bella took a step closer to me and put her delicate hand on my forearm. "Edward, I would really really love to go with you . . ."

I could already hear the hesitation and my heart plummeted. "But . . ."

"I have to work tomorrow. From after school until closing," she finished, her voice sounding regretful.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "I thought you only worked on Sundays and Thursdays." Was this just an excuse to get out of going out with me? Her way of letting me down easy?

Bella tightened her grip on my forearm. "I begged Mike for some of his shifts to help pay for the damage to my car."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. That made sense. Emmett, Rose and I had been able to help and get some of the parts for cheaper, but it wasn't exactly cheap to fix her car.

"What about some other time?"

"I'd really like that." She smiled at me, removing her hand from my forearm to stabilize the flowers she held. She leaned forward, smelling them. It was quiet for a moment before Bella continued, "You know, Ali and Jasper are coming over Wednesday to help me pass candy out to the kids, then we are going to watch scary movies. They seem to think I shouldn't be left home alone on Halloween. You're welcome to join us."

I was grinning from ear to ear when I told Bella that I would love to join them for Halloween. Okay, so it wouldn't be just the two of us, but at least I got to spend time with her. And I definitely agreed with Alice and Jasper that Bella shouldn't be left home alone on Halloween.

"And then I get to take you on a real date Friday night," I added. Bella smiled and nodded.

I was walking on cloud nine as I walked Bella out to her car.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I opened the door for her.

She smiled, holding on to the door for support, she stepped up on her tip toes and kissed my cheek before getting into her car and heading home.

Hours later I was still grinning like an idiot, but I really didn't care. Bella had agreed to go out with me. Me.

* * *

I ran a hand through my hair, the bag of movies in my other hand. It was six o'clock and I had just pulled up to Bella's house. She had put a few decorations out and two carved pumpkins adorned the porch at the top of the steps. Bella had tried to insist that I didn't need to bring anything tonight, but I wasn't having that. I finally convinced her to at least let me provide the movies. I jogged up the steps, taking note that Jasper or Alice's car were not here yet. Maybe I'd have a few minutes alone with Bella before they arrived. That thought made me smile.

I quickly knocked on the door, grateful that Charlie Swan was working this evening. Not that there was a whole lot of crime in the small town of Forks, but Halloween was one of his busier days. I had to smile when Bella opened the door. She was dressed in a long black dress, complete with black witch's hat on her head, and a broom in her hand. She was smiling at me as she opened the door.

"Trick or Treat," I teased, returning her smile.

She looked like she was in deep thought for a moment, "Treat," she responded, then leaned up on her tip toes and planted a very sweet soft kiss on my lips.

"Treat in deed," I responded, following her into the house. I deposited the bag of movies on the coffee table in the living room and followed her into the kitchen. She was in the middle of preparing dinner – it looked like pasta.

"I hope lasagna is okay with you," she said, turning her head to look glance at me.

"Lasagna sounds great. What can I do to help?" I said, walking up beside her.

Bella smiled, "I'm just about done." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "By the way, you're not getting out of wearing a costume tonight."

I looked at her very warily. "Umm . . "

"Don't worry, it's nothing compared to what Alice put everyone in last weekend." She laughed and it was great hearing her so carefree. She nodded to a box that was on the table, "It's in there, and you only have to wear it as long as the trick or treaters are coming around."

I cautiously walked over to the box, but to be honest, at this point I would've worn absolutely anything Bella had asked me to. I reached in the box and pulled out what appeared to be a black cape and a pair of fake fangs. This wasn't too bad, at least I could keep my own clothes on.

Bella smiled at my reaction.

The sound of Bella's phone interrupted my next thought. _'All seven and we'll watch them fall. . . They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all . . '_

Bella giggled. "That's Ali," she said, wiping her hands off and heading towards the sound of her cell phone in the other room. "Would you mind tossing that in the oven?" She asked, nodding toward the lasagna.

"Not at all," I replied, quickly sliding the food into the oven. I had to laugh at the ring tone Bella had for my sister. I knew exactly where that had come from. Alice and Bella had been hanging out at the house working on a project for their biology class when Alice had jumped up and started dancing to the music blaring from the nearby stereo. When I had walked in, both she and Bella were dancing around the kitchen like they didn't have a care in the world. Bella had grabbed my hand and pulled me in to join them. I'd had a special place in my heart for Prince songs from that moment on, and apparently so did the girls.

When Bella returned she had frown on her face, but she also looked confused.

"Ali says Jasper isn't feeling well, so she's taking him home and going to stay with him." She started. "He seemed fine today at school."

My brow furrowed, unsure of whether this was a good turn of events or bad. "B, do you not want to be alone here with me?"

She took a deep breath and her cheeks deepened in color. She lifted her face to look me in the eyes, "I'm okay with it if you are."

How, after all of this, she could think I wouldn't want to be alone with her, I couldn't fathom. "Of course I still want to be here with you."

Bella's anxiety seemed to diminish significantly, but before she could say anything there was a knock at the door. Bella grabbed her broom and the cauldron that was on the table filled with candy. She smiled then, "Well, if you're staying, you better put your costume on."

For the next two hours we passed candy to the multitude of children that came to the Swan's door. It was absolutely amazing to watch Bella interact with the children. She was amazing.

"You were great with those kids," I complimented as we started picking up after the trick or treaters.

Bella smiled. "Thanks," she quickly blew out the candles that had lit the pumpkins on the porch. "I don't know, they can just be so much fun. They have such imaginations, and an unjaded view of the world."

I returned her smile, "So you think you want to have kids, some day I mean."

I knew this conversation was probably a little forward for a first sort-of date, but Bella and I had known each other for so long, it didn't seem awkward.

"I suppose," she started, heading towards the kitchen to pull out a couple of plates so we could finally enjoy her lasagna. "I have other priorities first though. I want to go to school, probably U-Dub, graduate with at least my Bachelor's before I start thinking about a family."

"At least your Bachelors?" I started, "Does that mean you are planning on going farther than that?"

Bella smiled at me, talking about school and writing always made her happy. "Yep. I want to get my Master's Degree. They've got a pretty good program in Seattle, and I figure I'll be better off if I just continue directly on after my Bachelors."

I couldn't help but smile at Bella's enthusiasm. She had this ability to just radiate happiness. It was quite contagious.

"So are you still planning on going to Dartmouth to become a hot shot surgeon?" she asked, popping a fork full of lasagna in her mouth.

"I don't know about 'hot shot surgeon', but yes, I do want to go to Dartmouth and go to Med School." I'd initially wanted to be a surgeon, but recently I'd been thinking more towards becoming and ER doc, like my father. It was so amazing knowing the differences he made in people's lives.

It was so easy talking to Bella. I could talk to her for hours and never get tired. I learned so much about her in those few hours. After our lasagna, Bella went to change out of her costume and we ended up curled up together on the couch watching scary movies. When the first movie had started, there was actually quite a bit of space between us, but with every scary moment, Bella would jump slightly closer to me. It didn't take long before I put my arm around her and pulled her close.

Charlie got home shortly before midnight. He seemed moderately annoyed that I had been in the house alone with Bella, but I had been around long enough with Alice that he didn't seem to question it too much. Bella quickly warmed some of the lasagna up for her father and then came to walk me to my car.

"I had a great time tonight Bella," I told her as I leaned against my car door, in no hurry to leave her side.

Bella looked down at her feet. "I did too."

"B?" I asked, causing her to look up at me. "Can I give you a kiss good night?"

Bella nodded her permission and stepped up on her tip toes as I leaned down to kiss her. I leaned down enough so she could relax back on her feet. Bella was clumsy enough as it was, I didn't need her taking the additional risk of her falling over mid-kiss. My arms wrapped around her tiny waist and we both seemed to get lost in the kiss.

Charlie clearing his throat at the door broke us apart. Bella turned bright crimson and buried her face in my chest. I couldn't help but let a small laugh out at the situation. I leaned down and kissed Bella on the head. "I'll see you tomorrow. Can I pick you up for school?"

Bella nodded, her head still against my chest.

"I'll pick you up at 7:30."

She turned and walked back into the house, her father shutting the door behind them.

I drove home in a daze. As I pulled up to my house I pulled my phone out and sent a quick text to Bella. 'Good Night Beautiful.'

* * *

Alice was waiting in the living room for me. She jumped at me the moment I walked in, "So, how was your night with Bella?"

It all suddenly became very clear and I couldn't contain the smirk I sent my little sister's way. "Oh, it was great. How's Jasper? Feeling better?"

She smiled at me and played along, both of us knowing perfectly well that Jasper had never been sick. "He'll be okay. Probably completely back to normal in time for school tomorrow." She paused for a moment before jumping back in, "So how was your night with Bella?"

"It went great Ali, really great," I paused a moment, then added, "Thank You."

"You're welcome," she sang, happily dancing around the living room before bidding me good night and heading up to her room.

Yep, definitely the best Halloween ever. It may be my new favorite holiday.


	6. Chapter 6

EPOV

I glanced over at Bella. My right arm was swung loosely over her shoulder, while she had my left hand in her lap and was playing with my fingers. We were both curled up on my parents couch watching old 'Friends' reruns. It had been three weeks since our first 'date' on Halloween, and our date that Friday night went just as well. We'd grown so much closer these past few weeks and were so comfortable around one another.

"What are you thinking about?" I whispered in her ear. She looked like she was so deep in thought.

Bella thought about it for a moment and looked like she was thinking about how to carefully word her answer. "Edward, how concerned are you with your reputation?"

My brows furrowed and I was completely confused, not understanding where she was going with this.

Bella's cheeks reddened and she looked down at her lap. "Would it offend you too much if people thought something that wasn't necessarily true?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I guess it depends what it was. And it depended who it was that was given this incorrect information."

Bella's lips mashed into a straight line and the concentration returned.

"Did someone tell you something about me and you don't know whether or not to believe it?"

"Oh no, no, no. It's nothing like that at all." Bella shook her head to emphasize her point. "I'm just contemplating doing something."

I smiled at her, "Care to elaborate?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p'. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on my lips, effectively changing the subject.

* * *

"Hey B," I said, walking up to Bella at her locker and wrapping my arms around her waist and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey gorgeous," she replied, turning to smile at me. The final bell had just rung and we were officially free of school for Thanksgiving break.

Bella glanced down the hallway and a mischievous grin appeared on her lips. She shoved the rest of her books in her bag and attempted to fling it over her shoulder, but I was quick to grab it and take it off her hands. She glanced down the hallway again, then turned to me, taking my hand. "Okay, I'm going to be really brave here and I want you to just go along with whatever I say, okay?"

"Okay . . ." I tentatively agreed as I allowed Bella to lead me down the hallway to where a group of guys had gathered. I noticed too late that one of those guys was James. I was still pretty pissed about the Halloween party and wasn't sure I could hold my temper if he said something now.

"James," Bella started, drawing his attention.

He looked at her curiously and then back at me. I really had no idea where this was going.

"I hear you owe Edward here a little money," Bella continued. What the hell was she talking about?

James snorted, "And why in the world would you think that?"

"Well, I hear there was a little wager going on regarding me and the Halloween party."

"Ah, shit," Mike muttered, stepping back, but still watching the whole scene. James didn't seem fazed by the situation at all.

"And at what point do you think it would mean I owe him money?" James sneered, pointing a finger at me.

Bella shrugged, playing the whole thing off like it was no big deal. "Well, from what I understand the bet was regarding who I would end up going home with the night of the party." She casually reached around and grabbed my ass, practically causing me to jump to the ceiling. "And I do believe I went home with Edward that evening."

I couldn't believe my ears, but apparently Bella wanted a little revenge and I wasn't about to upset her little plan. I knew those who really needed to know would know the truth about Bella and I. Her questions from the previous night about caring about what everyone else thought all made sense now.

I smirked at the boys, leaning in to give Bella a slow, sensual kiss. When I tried to pull back, Bella gripped my shirt in an iron vice, pulling me even closer. She knocked me into the lockers we were close to and lifted her leg slightly to wrap around mine. I could hear the mutters and curses of the guys as they dissipated, deciding not to watch our blatant overboard PDA.

When Bella finally let me up for air I leaned my forehead against hers, "What was that for?"

She smiled sexily and in a breathless voice told me, "I just thought we deserved a little revenge." She reached up and ran her thumb along my bottom lip. "I mean, he did give my guy a bloody lip and all."

She laughed when I growled at her. "He was a lot worse off than I was."

"I know. But you can't blame me for being pissed at him. This just seemed like the perfect revenge. He is all about his reputation and how he can get any girl . . . I wanted to prove to everyone that he can't." She thought for a moment, then added, "but you can."

I shook my head at her, unable to wipe the grin from my face. "I don't want 'any' girl Bella. I want the best girl. I want YOU."

* * *

"BELLA!!!" Alice screeched, running into the living room. Her face was bright red from her exertion running and the fact that she appeared to not be able to stop laughing. "I can't believe that stunt you all pulled! The entire school is talking about it." By this point in time Alice was doubled over laughing, an amused looking Jasper following closely behind her.

Bella shrugged, fighting a smile. "What? It's not like I said anything that wasn't the truth."

Alice stopped short, then busted up laughing again, "You mean you got him that good just with insinuations – you didn't even have to lie?"

"I just told them that I went home with Edward that night, which was completely true," she reached over to squeeze my hand.

Alice was practically hyperventilating when she attempted speaking again. "I should be so mad at you all for not letting me know beforehand so I could've seen the look on their faces!" She still couldn't stop giggling.

Bella couldn't contain her laughter after that, and turned to look at me, a beautiful smile adorning her face. "I think our little stunt had it's desired effect."


	7. Chapter 7

EPOV

_Dear Mr. Cullen,_

_We would like to congratulate you on your acceptance to Dartmouth University . . . . _

I stared at the paper in my hands, unsure of the course of my life for the first time. It had only been a month and a half since I had started dating Bella but I couldn't imagine being apart from her. We'd grown practically inseparable. The thought of moving to the other side of the country was not nearly as appealing as it once was.

It was irrational, even I knew that. Hell, I hadn't even asked Bella to officially be my girlfriend yet, let alone been serious enough to make this big of life altering decision. But I couldn't help it, I wanted to be with Bella.

I knew my parents would support me in whatever I chose to do, but it would definitely disappoint them if I didn't follow through with Dartmouth. Not to mention that my heart had been set on attending Dartmouth since I was in diapers.

I'd pulled up the University of Washington's website on my laptop and was glancing through the information on their medical program.

"Edward!" Esme yelled up the steps, then I heard a soft knock at my open bedroom door. "What time are you picking Bella up?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall, "I need to get going." Esme nodded and headed back down the stairs.

Shoving my acceptance letter into the desk drawer, I quickly threw my tux jacket on and grabbed Bella's corsage from my desk. I hadn't told anyone about Dartmouth yet. They all knew I'd applied, of course, but not the acceptance.

I was picking Bella up at her house for the Fork's High formal Christmas dance. Alice had gone over there hours ago so the two could get ready together. I couldn't help but smile, remembering Bella's reaction when I had invited her. I think it had taken quite a bit of convincing on Alice's part to get her to agree to come. Bella wasn't comfortable in formal attire and she was convinced my feet would be black and blue by the end of the night if I insisted she dance with me. I had to laugh at the thought of that sweet tiny innocent girl actually harming me, whether intentional or not. I couldn't wait to see her all dressed up.

* * *

BPOV

"Do you really think this is all necessary?" I asked Alice as she sprayed even more hairspray at me. She had spent the last three hours working on my hair and make up for our Winter Formal. I was seriously wavering on whether or not I wanted to go to this thing. I hated dressing up and I hated the idea of being in heels, but the idea of being in Edward's arms for any length of time was pretty appealing and the only thing that would make this night bearable.

"Of course it is," Alice replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Don't you want to look stunning for Edward?"

I sighed, she had me there. Only Alice could make my plain looks as impressive as she did. She had my long brown locks half back with curls rolling down my back. She had given me natural looking make up that still managed to brighten my face up tremendously. The dress, well, the dress made me a little nervous. It was a shimmery dark blue satin that ran clear to the floor. It was held up with two thin spaghetti straps and clung to my curves in all the right places.

"Ali?" I asked tentatively, not sure I truly wanted to bring this up with Edward's sister, but she was my best friend and I needed to talk.

Apparently she heard the serious tone of my voice because she quickly came to sit next to me on the bed and put a comforting arm around my shoulders. "What is it B?"

I shrugged, trying to come up with the right words for my concerns. "Has . . Has Edward said anything to you about us?" Edward and I had grown so close over the past few months but I couldn't keep my insecurities from rearing their ugly head. I couldn't understand why perfect Edward Cullen would want to be with me. I had been doing good to keep my insecurities in check until the night before last. Edward and I had been curled up on his couch watching movies, which had basically turned into a make out session. In my Edward induced haze I had come so close to slipping and telling him I loved him. That thought scared me. Not the thought of loving him, I'd been in love with him for so long that it seemed like an integral part of who I was. No, what scared me was the thought of his reaction to my words. What if it scared him off? What if I was being too serious for him? It would destroy me if I lost him now, after finally getting to experience what it was like to be with him.

Alice's forehead scrunched, "What do you mean?"

I knew my voice was shaking when I continued, "Has he . . has he said . . . oh I don't know." I was frustrated and seriously letting my insecurities get the best of me. Why, oh why couldn't I just pull my jeans and hoodie back on.

Alice was the best possible best friend there was, but there was no way she was letting me out of this dress tonight. "B, Edward is absolutely crazy about you. He talks about you constantly and he's always daydreaming about you," she smiled, "That is, for the little amount of time you aren't actually together."

A little smile crept on my lips. I knew she was right, I was just being paranoid. It didn't help the fact that Edward and I had never talked about the specifics of our relationship. Of course we were dating, but my dad had asked one day if he was my boyfriend and I hadn't known how to answer. I would have done anything to be able to call Edward my boyfriend, but I didn't even know if he was ready for that yet. Was a month and a half long enough of dating to be an official couple? I thought so, but I was definitely no relationship expert.

It was only a few moments later when the doorbell rang, announcing Edward's arrival, with Jasper right behind him. They both looked gorgeous. Alice had, of course, picked out their outfits so that they went perfectly with our dresses.

"You look stunning," Edward breathed, pulling me close.

I couldn't stop the ear to ear smile from breaking across my face. "You look pretty good too, Cullen."

An hour later, Edward and I were twirling around on the dance floor. There wasn't any feeling better than being in Edward's arms.

We were dancing to 'When You Say Nothing At All', a hopelessly romantic song that I couldn't help getting lost in. For the moment I didn't even mind the high heels Alice had forced me in to. My arms were locked around Edward's neck, my hands occasionally running through his soft beautiful hair.

Edward's arms were around my waist, holding me tightly to him. I didn't even notice a flinch or grimace on any of the numerous occasions I stepped on his feet. Edward lifted his lips to my ear, his warm breath blowing on my skin. "I love you Bella," he whispered into my ear.

I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm sure my eyes were wide as saucers when I pulled back to look at his face. He looked so sincere, with a hint of concern or maybe self-doubt. I grinned from ear to ear and tightened my arms around his neck, practically choking him. "I love you too Edward, so much!"

Edward's arms tightened around my waist and the next thing I knew he was swinging me around in a circle across the dance floor. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," he said when he set me down.

I couldn't help but giggle at the ecstatic look on his face. I felt almost high I was so happy. "So does this mean I get to call you my boyfriend?"

Edward continued grinning at me, "I would be honored to be called your boyfriend."

Ten minutes later Edward was leading me back to our table. Alice was sitting in Jasper's lap, smiling and laughing with him.

"Ali," I started, unable to control my face splitting grin, my hand locked in Edward's.

"Yeah?" Alice responded, returning the smile and placing an arm over Jasper's shoulders so she could turn to partially face us.

"I just wanted to introduce you to my _boyfriend_, Edward." I told her, tilting my head towards her brother.

The squeal Alice let out was deafening. Even Jasper turned his head in an attempt to save his hearing. She quickly jumped out of his lap and was hugging Edward and I. "I knew it!" she continued to squeal. She turned on me then, "See, I told you there was nothing for you to worry about." She was still smiling and playfully poking me in the ribs.

Edward sent me a questioning look, but I just rolled my eyes at him.

A short while later, the boys went to get us all some drinks and left Alice and I alone for some girl talk.

"So how did he ask?" Alice demanded, grabbing hold of my arm, her enthusiasm not slowing in the slightest.

I sighed dreamily. "It was so sweet Alice," I started then continued to fill her in on the exchange between Edward and I.

Alice smiled at me, tilting her head thoughtfully, "You're happy?"

I nodded at her, "Absolutely."

* * *

One Week Later

BPOV

"Hey B," Edward started, getting up from his position at the kitchen table. He had been working on his English essay whie I had been cooking our dinner. He had offered to help, repeatedly, but I declined. I felt so at home and comfortable when I was working in the kitchen.

"Yeah," I responded, glancing at him over my shoulder as I continued to brown the hamburger.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He suddenly looked nervous, which in turn, made me nervous. "We need to talk."

My fingers tightened around the spatula I was holding. My mind was running a mile a minute, automatically going to the worst possible scenarios for why Edward would need to suddenly have a serious talk with me.

"Hey," Edward soothed, wrapping his arms around me and prying my fingers off of the spatula. I hadn't realized I was gripping it so tight that my knuckles were white and I almost bent the thin metal. Edward's arms around me helped calm me, but couldn't completely take away the nerves that were now plaguing my body. Edward glanced down at the hamburger, which was officially browned and moved it off of the burner, reaching around me to turn the stove off. He took my hand and led me to sit at the table.

Edward sighed, it almost looked like he didn't know how to tell me what he needed to.

I reached forward to keep hold of his hand. I just needed to be touching him. "You can tell me anything you know," I told him, trying to sound reassuring.

Edward took his free hand and reached into his back pocket, producing a very folded and worn sheet of paper. "I got this in the mail the other day," he said, holding it out to me.

I had to release his hand to hold the paper and be able to unfold it so that I could read it. It was an acceptance letter . . . to Dartmouth. Edward had gotten in.

"I'm so proud of you!" I yelled, jumping from the chair and locking my arms around his neck. It's a good thing his balance is so much better than mine because I about tipped us both onto the floor.

Edward's arms wound around me, holding me close as he buried his face in my hair.

After a few moments and my nerves calming down enough, I pulled back and playfully swatted Edward's arm. "You jerk! You don't say 'we need to talk' when it's good news. You about gave me a heart attack."

"I love you," Edward said, smiling at me. He turned thoughtful for a moment, then looked back at me, now firmly perched in his lap. "You sure this is good news?"

Was I sure? Of course. Edward had wanted to go to Dartmouth since he was in kindergarten. The fact that he had to choose a school that was clear across the country from me didn't sit very well, but this was his dream. And this was Edward. I'd wait for him forever. "Yeah, it's good news."

Edward pulled me tight against him again, "I don't know that I know anymore. I don't think I can give you up."

That stopped me short and I jerked back to look him in the eyes to see if he was serious. "What?"

Edward shrugged, trying to lighten the situation. "I was kind of thinking about going to U-Dub, staying a little closer to home."

"No." I stated emphatically. He got into Dartmouth – he was not giving that up. It was his dream.

His brows furrowed and he looked like he was desperately trying to figure out what I was thinking. I lifted a finger to his lips, "You have always wanted to go to Dartmouth – you are doing this," I paused, then brought up the part of his earlier statement that scared me. "Now, why do you think you would have to give me up?"

He sighed, his eyes darkening in color. "I can't ask you to wait for me while I go thousands of miles away to school. It wouldn't be fair to you."

I sighed, Edward was always so selfless. "Edward, do you want to still be tied down to this little town when you are off in New Hampshire?"

He knew what I was asking. "I always want to be with you, whether I'm in the same room or across the world."

"And why do you think I wouldn't feel the same about you? I want to be with you. No matter what. And I want to be able to support you and your dreams. You can go to school and I'll still be here for you when you're done."

Edward leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. "You'd do that for me?"

I smiled, pressing my lips more firmly against his. "Of course."

* * *

EPOV

Bella's response to my acceptance to Dartmouth was better than I could've ever expected. I didn't have to think twice about the idea of a long distance relationship. I'd do anything if it meant being with her.

Of course my parents were thrilled when we told them. Bella had come with me.

Alice had already announced that she planned to follow Jasper to Texas for school. It didn't hurt that Jasper was going to Texas A&M which also had a great design program, which was what Alice had always wanted to do.

I was starting to feel guilty that we were all going so far away from Bella. It wasn't like she was that much younger than us, Alice and I were born in June, while Bella was born in September. Unfortunately July 1 was the cut off for our class, which meant Bella would graduate a year after us.

Even Emmett was moving on. Rosalie had decided to go to school in Seattle and he was going with her. Actually, I have a feeling that Rosalie told Emmett he was going with her.

Bella did at least have her friend Angela, who was also a Junior. Unfortunately, everyone else Bella hung out with was going to be leaving Forks come August.

She insisted she was okay with it, but I knew she'd be lonely. I just didn't know any way around it.


	8. Chapter 8

6 Months Later

BPOV

It was a Friday afternoon in mid-May and Forks High had gotten out early. The baseball team had made it to the State Championship game, so school got out at noon today after an assembly. The game was scheduled for tomorrow in Seattle, but the coach had wanted the team to travel down today and spend some time on the field they would be playing on. That meant I wouldn't get to see Edward until after the game tomorrow. The rest of the Cullen's were picking me up in the morning so we could all travel and watch the game together.

"Jake!" I yelled, throwing my arms around him. It had been months since I had seen him.

"Hey Bells!" Jake yelled back, returning the hug.

Charlie and Billy had gone fishing for the evening, leaving Jake and I to ourselves for the evening. I had brought pizza and followed him into his garage.

"So how close is this thing to being done?" I asked as Jake reached to pick up some form of tool to tinker under the hood of the old car he was attempting to fix up.

"Just about there," he replied, then continued to explain what was left to do on the car. It all sounded like jibberish to me. "You should see what I'm fixing up for Embry though."

I watched as Jacob walked to the corner of the garage and pulled a grungy looking sheet off of his 'project'. Under the sheet was a fun looking moped.

"Ooh. Can I ride it?" I asked, clapping my hands together.

Jake side, "Your dad and your boyfriend will kill me if you get hurt."

"I won't get hurt, one time around the block. Please Jake," I begged. It was usually pretty easy to talk Jake into anything.

Jake dropped his head and pulled the sheet the rest of the way off. "Just around the block." He maneuvered the bike out of the garage and onto the driveway.

I quickly hopped on as Jake steadied the bike and ran through how to drive the bike. It wasn't like it was big, just a little moped thing.

Jake let go of the bike as I accelerated, making my way easily forward. I made it around the block, loving the feel of the wind blowing through my hair. It was such a beautiful day out. I was pulling back into Jacob's driveway when I was met with the uneven ground. The road was paved and there was a slight drop off to the Black's gravel drive. The bump caused me to lose my grip on the handle bars and the next thing I knew, they were turned hard left. I wasn't going very fast, but it did startle me enough that I wasn't able to kick my foot out to attempt to brace myself. I ended up on the ground with my right leg pinned under the moped. Jake was immediately over me, lifting it off.

"Did I hurt the bike?" I asked, trying to see if there were any dents or scratches in the shiny silver and black.

"The bike is fine," Jake replied, propping the moped up on it's kickstand and turning to help me up.

I'd felt completely fine until I tried to put pressure on my right ankle. "Ow. Ow. Ow." I cried, grabbing onto Jake so I didn't fall over.

Jake led me over to his dad's truck and let me sit on the tailgate while he gently removed my shoe and sock. I big my lip, trying not to show how much it hurt. It didn't work and Jake noticed my grimace.

"Okay, I'm taking you to the ER," he stated, quickly lifting me up bridal style to set me in the passenger seat of the truck.

I was trying to come up with a good argument, but honestly, my ankle was really hurting and I knew I should probably have it x-rayed. "Fine, but when Charlie asks how I got hurt – I tripped."

Jake grinned at that, "Sounds good to me."

Carlisle could only shake his head at me when he saw Jacob carrying me into the ER. "Dare I ask what you did this time?"

"Disagreement with a moped," I told him. There was no way I was lying to any of the Cullens. Besides, Carlisle couldn't ground me like Charlie could.

An hour later Carlisle was back in the room wrapping my quickly swelling ankle with ace wrap. Thankfully it wasn't broken, just mildly sprained. He told me to keep my ankle elevated, iced and be on crutches for a few weeks. He also advised me to avoid the moped for awhile – that wasn't going to be a problem. I was much more concerned that I could've damaged the bike than I was for my ankle.

Jake and I got back to his house just before Charlie and Billy returned. Charlie just shook his head and helped me into the car after we had told him how I 'tripped' in the driveway.

* * *

"Bella!" Alice called, bounding up the steps toward my bedroom. It was a little after 8am and she was here so we could go to the game together.

She shook her head when she saw the crutches I was sporting. "Only you," she muttered, pulling out her make-up bag. For once, Alice had decided my wardrobe options were okay – but it was only because it was a baseball game and I had opted for my skinny jeans and Edward's baseball shirt that I had borrowed last week, the name 'Cullen' prominently displayed on the back. Alice quickly went to work applying my make-up and even pulling out a bunch of blue and white ribbon to tie around my ponytail. She glanced at my crutches thoughtfully then started adorning my crutches with the school spirited ribbon.

Emmett, Rose, Jasper, Alice and I all ended up riding in Emmett's jeep while Carlisle and Esme took his BMW. There just wasn't room in any of the vehicles for all seven of us. I couldn't believe the number of people at the stadium when we pulled in. The place was packed – and we'd even arrived an hour early. I made it through the parking lot fine but was just about to the point I was going to sit on the steps and watch the game rather than risk attempting to make it down the large number of cement steps I would have to brave to reach the second row seats the Cullens had obtained.

Alice was the first to notice my hesitation and quickly moved so that I could lean on her. I couldn't help but giggle, "So instead of just me going down, this time I get to take you down with me?" I asked. She just smirked at me. Before either of us could attempt the first step I was flipped up off the ground and into two huge muscular arms.

"Jeez! A little warning next time Em!" I cried, trying desperately not to hit anyone with my crutches. Alice grabbed the flailing crutches and immediately passed them over to Jasper to carry. "I can walk on my own," I muttered as we started down the steps.

Emmett looked at me skeptically, "Apparently not very well, little sis."

I playfully smacked his shoulder. Emmett had always been like a big teddy bear of an older brother to me. I'd always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling and Emmett seemed like the perfect big brother candidate. It didn't hurt that he'd referred to me as 'little sis' ever since Edward and I had started dating.

Emmett carried me all the way down the steps, telling jokes the whole way.

* * *

EPOV

I threw a few more warm up pitches before I headed back to the dugout. It was still pretty early, but the stands were already filling up. I was just returning my gaze to the dugout when I noticed my family – in particular Emmett carrying Bella down the stairs and her ankle wrapped up. Jasper had a pair of crutches tossed lightly against his shoulder. My concern was short lived as I saw the smile on Bella's beautiful face as she laughed at my goof ball brother.

She caught my eye then and waved, smiling widely at me. I couldn't help but smile and return the wave. Their seats were in the second row, behind the dugout so I quickly jumped up on the blockade and learned against the railing to the stands.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked, smiling at Bella.

She grinned back at me as she shook her head no. It was amazing how devastatingly klutzy she could be, but it was just a part of her charm. She quickly hopped up and hobbled over to the rail I was leaning against.

"Good Luck," she said before leaning in and giving me a quick kiss.

This was going to be a great day.

* * *

I glanced at the scoreboard – it was the bottom of the ninth and we were up 4-2. There was one out and a runner on first. I had pitched the first seven innings before Coach had pulled me and put Kevin in to pitch. He'd immediately allowed the two runs and got pulled. Ben had managed to finish out the inning and was starting the ninth. I watched as he wound up and rocketed one toward home, the cracking of the bat resounding a moment later. I watched as the ball lined straight at Mike at second – he managed to catch it, step on the bag and immediately fire it over to Ricky at first. Double play. The stands erupted in cheers and they announced that Forks High had just won the State Baseball Championship. The fans quickly rushed the field, lifting several of the players onto their shoulders, including Jackson, who had hit the two run homer in the sixth. I turned around in time to see Emmett stand Bella back upright, close enough that she only had to hobble one step to throw her arms around me. See . . . I knew it was going to be a great day.

"Congratulations, Baby," Bella yelled as I picked her up and swung her in a circle.

I grinned at her, leaning in for a kiss. "Thank you for being here today for this. It makes it so much better knowing you're here."

Bella grinned, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

I leaned my forehead against hers, still supporting most of her weight with my arms. "I am so going to marry you some day, Bella Swan."

Bella was smiling but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was taking this seriously. "Promise?"

"Absolutely," I vowed.

I don't know if Bella completely comprehended my seriousness in that moment, but I had every intention of following through with it – if she'd have me. We'd talked about it before, not in regards to us specifically, but in general. Bella had said she had always wanted to wait until she had graduated with at least her Bachelor's before she thought about marriage. It almost seems too long to wait, but I know we're young and have no business thinking about marriage this early, but I really couldn't imagine being without Bella. She had very quickly become my entire life.


	9. Chapter 9

2 Year Later

BPOV

"Hey Babe," I answered my phone, knowing from the caller ID that it was Edward.

"Hi Love, what are you up to today?" he responded. I don't know why, but he sounded a little nervous.

"Just working on my R&J paper." Edward knew all about the massive paper I had due next week for my English Lit class. "What about you?"

"Well, I actually needed to talk to you about something."

Uh Oh. This did not sound like something good. "Okay . . ."

"I have a couple of classes that I need to take this summer," he started.

I could already feel the tears forming in my eyes. "So . . you . . won't . . . be coming . . . home this . . . summer?" I stuttered out. We were already spending so much time apart. I spent all of my time looking forward to summer and holiday breaks in order to spend time with Edward.

"Bella, Bella, Bella, Calm down Love. I just wanted to talk to you about this." He took a deep breath, then continued, "I actually was going to see if you would be interested in coming out here for the summer."

I sighed, "Edward, you know I can't afford that."

"But I think you can Bella," he argued, "You can stay in the house with us, so you wouldn't have to pay rent anywhere – the utilities are taken care of. See, it won't cost hardly anything," he paused again, "and you know I would pay for anything if it meant spending more time with you."

I shook my head, leave it to Edward to offer to pay for me to spend a summer in New Hampshire. I really was starting to wonder if the trust fund his grandparents left for him was more money than he really knew what to do with.

"I'll think about it," I relented, already knowing I would give in to his request.

"Good, because I really need to stay and take these two classes, but I'm not doing it if I can't be with you."

Edward and I talked a little while longer before he had to get to work. I still didn't understand his insistence that he get a job this year – like I said, he had all of the trust fund money, there was no way he needed a job.

* * *

I grabbed the last of my bags and hauled them down to my car. Alice was already standing by my car, carefully rearranging the bags for our drive across the country. She had flown in two days ago and was going to drive with me to New Hampshire and spend a couple of weeks out there to be able to spend some time with me and Edward. If I'd been complaining about the lack of time I'd gotten to spend with Edward, I'd seen my little pixie of a best friend even less.

"You ready?" she asked as I placed the last bag in the back seat.

"Yep." I slid into the driver's seat as Alice pulled out the maps. We were going to take our time driving and didn't have a specific time we were going to reach New Hampshire. I needed a little girl time with Alice.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" I whined. Alice was currently driving and according to her, we should've been to Edward's over an hour ago. I was tired of being in the car and desperately needed to see my Edward.

"Just about," Alice replied, turning on an exit where I finally saw the sign for Hanover.

Alice called Edward to tell him we would be there shortly.

"EDWARD!!!" I cried, jumping out of the car before Alice even had it pulled to a complete stop. I ran and jumped into his arms. He was grinning that beautiful crooked grin at my reaction. I kissed all over his beautiful face as he held me tight.

"Hey Ali," he greeted his sister, attempting to give her a one armed hug while still maintaining his hold on me.

Alice grinned and I decided relinquish my hold on Edward so they could greet each other properly. Unfortunately Alice and Edward's spring breaks weren't at the same time, so they hadn't seen each other since Christmas break.

Edward made his way to my car, his arm still securely locked around me as he grabbed a few of our suitcases. Edward led us into the house, giving us a brief tour along the way. He set Alice's first bag in the spare bedroom, giving her a few moments to look around as we continued up the next set of steps.

"Eh," Edward started, "I didn't know if you'd want your own room or if you would want to stay with me."

I grinned at his sudden apparent self-doubt. That was not my normal, self-assured, confident Edward. I don't know why he thought I would be uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as him. Actually, it sounded pretty nice to me. It wasn't like we hadn't shared a bed before. We had both had a lot of first experiences together, including losing our virginities together the summer after I graduated.

"I want to stay with you," I said confidently.

The grin I got in response told me that was the answer he had hoped for. I was actually a little surprised he hadn't brought this up before in our discussions about this summer.

Edward continued to the third floor and led me into his bedroom. I couldn't help but smile, he had photos of me and us all over his room. There was a large picture of his family above his dresser, with pictures of us on both sides. My cheeks burned slightly red, there was a picture of the two of us that Alice had taken of the two of us at the Halloween party. "Seriously? I didn't think there was photographic evidence of me in that outfit." I said, shaking my head.

Edward walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You looked so sexy in that outfit, I had to have the picture." He smirked, "Pretty sure I had to give in to numerous shopping trips with Alice to talk her out of a copy of that picture."

I had to giggle at that – it was so Alice to bribe Edward to go shopping with her in exchange for a picture. I moved on, looking at the next picture. It was from my senior year, I had never been a fan of dances, but it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement everyone was radiating about the Winter Formal. Edward had insisted on flying in and taking me. The night had been absolutely magical. I'd gone all out for his visit, actually volunteering for a manicure and pedicure and having my hair and make-up done. Edward had looked absolutely stunning in his black tux. Rosalie had actually called and invited me to go shopping with her and helped me pick out a dark green floor length sparkling gown. I had spent an entire paycheck on getting ready for the dance. In the end though, I was almost sure I could've shown up in sweats and Edward would've still looked at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the room. He always made me feel so special. In the photo, neither of us were looking at the camera. I was in his arms and we were both staring deep into one another's eyes.

I made my way farther into the room, one of my senior pictures was framed next to his bed. There was a large collage frame on the far wall, it was full of pictures of everyone he cared about. There were more pictures of the two of us, pictures of Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, even a couple of pictures of Alice and I together, and of course a couple of pictures of his parents. Edward was always so loyal to those he cared about.

Edward tossed my bag on the bed and quickly pulled open a couple of his dresser drawers, showing me that he had already emptied them out making room for my stuff. I smiled and started unloading the bag. "I'll go get the rest of your bags," Edward said, giving me a quick peck on the cheek, then heading back down the stairs.

A few hours later, Alice and I were sitting at the bar in the kitchen, watching Edward prepare dinner. I had tried repeatedly to help, but he had insisted Alice and I relax after our long drive. It was 6:30 and Edward's roommates were due home at 7 so that we could all eat together. Edward had several roommates, most of which had been in the house when Edward had moved in. Steve owned the house and shared the master bedroom suite with his fiancé, Kim. Seth was pre-med, like Edward, but he was a year younger. Unfortunately he was planning on moving out at the end of the summer. He'd gotten an apartment of his own. Victoria and Laurent were brother and sister and both taking classes at the nearby community college. Edward wasn't the biggest fan of either of them and had told me numerous horror stories of Victoria's advances towards him. I was beyond grateful that he felt comfortable enough to tell me about his difficulties with her. He'd always told me he didn't want me to feel like there was anything he was keeping from me. They were gaining two new roommates this fall. Jamie was a law student who was going to be taking over Seth's room after he moved, while Jackson would be taking the spare bedroom that Alice was currently staying in come mid-June.

Edward's roommates slowly trickled in half an hour later. Alice and I set the table while Edward finished dinner. Steve and Kim headed up to their room to freshen up for dinner, while Seth stayed and helped Alice and I. Laurent arrived a short while later, followed by Victoria. They also retreated to their individual rooms.

"So, Bella, I hear you're an English Lit major at U-Dub," Seth started, attempting to make conversation. Seth was Edward's closest friend at Dartmouth and I could quickly see why. He was doing his best to make sure Ali and I were comfortable here.

Dinner went smoothly for the most part, except for the dirty looks Victoria kept sending my way. I was seriously relieved when Edward told me that she and Laurent would be heading back to their parent's home in Alabama for the summer. I swear I almost felt threatened by this strange woman.

Edward had taken a few days off from his job and didn't have to start his summer classes for another week. Edward seemed to sense my discomfort with being around Victoria and suggested we head to New York for a few days. Alice, of course, jumped at the idea of going shopping in New York. At least she'd be entertained. We did all of the touristy things – saw the Statue of Liberty, went to the top of the Empire State Building, wandered around Times Square. Alice excused herself one night to go to some fashion show that she insisted would bore Edward and I to death, not that that would normally stop her, but I think she was doing her best to give Edward and I a little alone time. Edward booked the two of us on a evening dinner cruise along the coast. It was beyond romantic and the lights of the city looked absolutely stunning.

By the time we returned to New Hampshire, Victoria and Laurent had left for Alabama.

Edward's classes started that Monday, so Alice accompanied me on my search to find a summer job. I'd planned on having to fill out numerous applications and spend a lot of time, but was actually able to find a job fairly quickly. I loved my job at 'The Bookworm' that I had back in Seattle, but was looking for something a little different for the summer. I just wanted a little change. Seth set me up with a job at his cousin's newspaper. It was a temporary secretary position, apparently the girl that had previously had the position had been having trouble with school, dropped out and moved away.

The summer was definitely looking up.

* * *

"Mmm . . I don't want to have to head home today," I murmured into Edward's shoulder. We had spent the most amazing summer together. Edward had completed taken his last final yesterday and I'd finished my last day at my summer job. Edward was driving back to Forks with me so that we could see our families for the last week and a half of summer break before the fall semester started. I knew part of Edward's insistence of going back to Forks was that he didn't like the idea of me driving by myself. He was always overprotective of me. Edward sighed and stretched, then placed a loving kiss on the top of my head.

"This summer really has been great," he said into my hair. "I love you, B."

I leaned up and planted a quick, sweet kiss on his lips. "I love you too."

Stretching, I pulled myself out of the bed and headed towards Edward's in suite bathroom. An hour later Edward was behind the wheel of my little Nissan and we were on our way back to Forks.

We had been driving for several hours when Edward reached across the seat the rub his thumb over my cheek. "I'm going to marry you one of these days, Isabella Swan," he said, grinning at me.

"Promise?" I replied, returning his grin.

"I promise."

* * *

"I don't want you to have to leave," I whined as Edward removed his bags from my car, his plane ticket back to New Hampshire in his hand. He was flying back to Hanover today and I was not happy about it.

"I know, Love, but I have to," he sighed, bringing his arm to wrap around my waist and pull me close.

"Thanksgiving just seems so far away," I continued whining. Edward wouldn't be able to return to Washington until Thanksgiving break, a little over three months away.

"I know, but we both knew what we were getting into when we agreed to this," he sighed and I knew I was making this much harder on him than I had to.

"You'll call me every day?" I asked.

Edward laughed at this, "Numerous times every day. I'm kind of addicted to you, Miss Swan."

I turned my head to place a quick kiss on his shoulder. "I'm a little addicted to you too, Mr. Cullen."


	10. Chapter 10

BPOV

This sucks. Not that I had ever been a big fan of my birthday – it really was just another day to me. But this year it was really bothering me. I was turning twenty and was spending the day re-stocking books at 'The Bookworm' where I had worked part time since I came to Seattle.

I had a box of gifts waiting for me at Angela and I's apartment when I had finished classes, courtesy of Alice. She always went overboard, no matter how many times I had told her not to buy me presents. Same with her overly generous brother. Alice had sent me a beautiful burgundy dress with matching high heeled shoes, a few books and a bottle of my favorite perfume. The last present was slightly odd – she had wrapped up the Forks High cheerleader uniform that I had worn to the Halloween party all those years ago. I found it extremely odd that she still had it, let alone was sending it to me. There was a sticky note attached to it that read 'Put this to good use'. I shook my head just thinking about it. I love Alice dearly, but sometimes her train of thought is a little hard to follow. I hadn't had much time to ponder the odd gift either, as I'd had to rush to change and get to work.

Edward had called me at 7am to wish me a Happy Birthday, knowing I would be getting up for class. I couldn't believe he'd gotten up so early to call me – with the time change, it was only 4am in New Hampshire. We talked for a little while and I promised to call him when I got home from work.

I grabbed the next cart loaded down with books to be stacked on the shelves and headed down one of the aisles.

"Hey Ang," I called as I passed Angela at the check-out counter. I had actually helped her get the job here a year back.

Angela shook her head at me and sighed, "I still can't believe you are working on your birthday."

I shrugged as I continued down the aisle. I knew it was going to be a slow night, spending Friday night at the bookstore wasn't a high priority on most of the college kids lists. I almost wished I had brought one of the new books Alice had gotten for me, thinking I might get a change to read some if it stayed this slow.

I had only been stocking books for about half an hour when I felt strong arms wrap around my waist from behind and swung me in a large circle. I was still too shocked by the action to respond when I heard the laugh. That beautiful melodic velvet laugh that could only belong to one person. A person I had been desperately missing all day, not to mention the three weeks it had been since I had seen him.

"EDWARD!" I screamed, turning to face him and locking my arms around his neck.

He laughed again at my reaction and twirled me in another circle, "Happy Birthday, Love," he whispered in my ear.

I loosened my grip on his neck just enough to pull back and look at him. I couldn't believe it – he was really here. Edward and I had been together for almost four years and I had never gotten to spend my birthday with him. We had gotten together a little over a month after my birthday when he was still in high school and the next two years he couldn't get away from school. I grinned from ear to ear before leaning forward and locking my lips to his.

"How long do you get to stay?" I asked when our lips finally parted.

"I have to fly back Sunday afternoon," he started, "So I am yours for the next 48 hours."

I smiled and hugged him tight again, "Mine."

He laughed and took my hand, leading me back to the front of the store.

"Ang," I cried excitedly, "Look who's here!"

Angela smirked at me, "Why Edward Cullen, whatever could you be doing here?"

I looked between Angela and Edward. "You knew?!?" I screeched at Ang. "You knew he was coming and didn't tell me?"

"That's why it is called a surprise Bella. Besides, who else did you think he would call to get you off work for the weekend?" she retorted.

That took me back. I was supposed to work until close tonight and from 10am-6pm tomorrow. "What do you mean 'off work'?"

Angela shrugged, "I did a little rearranging. You do have to come in from six to close on Sunday, but you are off," she glanced at her watch, then back up to me, "from now until then."

"Oh Thank You!" I cried, releasing Edward's hand to throw my arms around Angela.

"Happy Birthday B," she said, then shooing me away added, "Now get out of here and go enjoy it."

I bounced, literally bounced as I went to retrieve my jacket and purse.

"Oh, and Bella," Angela called, "I'm staying with Ben this weekend, so the apartment is all yours."

Edward took my hand and led me toward the exit, grabbing his duffle bag on the way. "So what are the plans for tonight?" I asked, leaning my head against his shoulder, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Tonight is completely up to you. Tomorrow night we're going on a date – I've already made reservations and have tickets. Tonight is yours though."

I smiled. "Movie night," I said simply. Edward knew immediately what I meant. It had been a tradition started by Alice and I many years ago. We would bring all of the pillows and blankets into the living room, completely stock up on junk food and watch movies all night long.

"Movie night it is," he agreed.

We quickly dropped his stuff off at my apartment and headed for my truck to go to the grocery store and movie rental place.

"Did Alice know you were coming to Seattle?" I asked as we were on our way back.

Edward smiled, "You know I can't keep anything from that little pixie." He shook his head, then added, "But no one else knows I'm here. If my mom found out I was this close to home and didn't come see her she would probably disown me."

Alice's presents were suddenly making much more sense. The dress and shoes were probably for the date tomorrow night. I had a sneaking suspicion of why she had sent the cheerleader uniform now too. Edward had always told me he thought I'd looked sexy in that outfit. Well, I guess it was better than her sending me lingerie. I guess.

Edward and I spent hours curled up together in the living room watching the movies we had picked out and eating junk food. At one point he disappeared into the kitchen under the pretense of getting more soda. When he returned he had a chocolate cupcake in his hand, complete with a single lit candle on it. He sang Happy Birthday to me as he bent down in front of me, getting close enough that I could blow out the candle. It was unbelievably sweet.

I laughed, taking the cupcake from him as he removed the candle. I reached forward quickly and smeared a small amount of the frosting on his nose, giggling at the shocked expression on his face.

"Get it off," he playfully growled, leaning towards me.

"Nope," I said, giggling again and jumping up to my feet to scramble away from him. Not a good idea when you have the coordination I do. Edward quickly tackled me down onto the blankets. He had my arms pinned over my head in no time.

"Get it off," he repeated, grasping both of my wrists in one hand and bringing his other hand down to tickle my side.

"Never!" I screeched, laughing so hard my side hurt. It felt so good. I hadn't smiled or laughed this much in the entire past month. It took a few more moments of his ferocious tickling before I started yelling 'Give'.

His hand paused over my side, preparing to tickle again if I went back on my word. Slowly I leaned forward and licked the icing off of his nose. When I leaned back, I knew from the look in Edward's eyes that we would not be watching any more movies tonight.

* * *

The light streaming in from the living room window woke me. I reached over, feeling for Edward and coming up empty handed. I wrapped one of the blankets around myself and glanced around for my clothes. I chuckled to myself as I reached to pull Edward's t-shirt off of the top of the tv, quickly putting it on.

I wandered toward the kitchen, finding Edward standing there in his boxers making what appeared to be omelets.

"Mmm, that smells delicious," I murmured, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his back.

Edward finished the omelets and slid them onto the plates he had sitting on the counter, turning to give me a quick kiss.

Edward and I decided to head out a few hours later, wandering around and seeing the sights. We got home shortly before 4pm, giving us two hours to get ready for our date. I couldn't wait. Edward was taking me to the Space Needle for dinner, then on a boat ride around the coast.

"Happy Birthday, B," Edward whispered as we watched the lights of the coast float by. I don't know where he had hidden it, but he suddenly had a small package, wrapped in beautiful silver paper with a dark blue ribbon around it.

I shook my head, "Edward, you being here is more than I could've ever asked for on my birthday. You didn't have to get me something too."

Edward just grinned at me, "But I wanted to." Then he leaned down to place a quick kiss on my lips. That boy always knew how to get what he wanted out of me.

"Fine," I huffed, taking it from his hands. I gently unwrapped the package to reveal a small rectangular black box. I was extremely nervous as I reached to open it. I cracked the box open, revealing a beautiful heart necklace, with multiple diamond accents. "Edward, it's beautiful," I breathed. I turned the heart over to find 'Love You Forever B' inscribed on the back. My eyes were glistening with tears when I looked back at him. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?"

Edward leaned forward and skimmed his nose against mine. "And here I was wondering what I did to deserve _you_."

I leaned forward to press my lips against his, "Thank You." One of the tears escaped from my eyes, Edward brought his hand up to wipe it away.

"I love you," he responded.

"I love you too," I whispered back.

* * *

I cried the whole way back to my apartment after dropping Edward off at the airport. This was just getting more and more difficult. We'd only been apart three weeks and it seemed unbearable. We wouldn't get to see each other again until he was home for Thanksgiving. That just seemed like an eternity.

* * *

EPOV

This was getting harder and harder. Leaving Bella was becoming nearly impossible. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy her time in Hanover. I wondered if I should try to attempt to talk her into transferring and coming to New Hampshire. If she didn't want to go to Dartmouth, there were several other good options close by. I would've happily followed her to U-Dub, but she wouldn't allow it. She would never have let me give up on my dreams, no matter what it cost her. I loved that girl so much.


	11. Chapter 11

BPOV

Shit. Shit. Shit. How could this happen? Well, I wasn't stupid, I knew how this could happen, I just didn't want to admit it. I had been throwing up for a week now and just realized how long it had been since I had had my period. I had always been pretty irregular, so I hadn't thought much about it until now. I had always been so consistent about taking my birth control pills, but now I realized that I had gotten pretty lax about it once I had gotten back to school for the fall semester, thinking I wouldn't get to see Edward until November. I grabbed my keys and my purse and darted out the door to head to the nearest drugstore.

I knew I looked like hell. My face was flushed from my repeated illness and my hair was in a horribly messy ponytail. I had thrown on a pair of jeans and one of my old t-shirts. Poor Alice would have a heart attack if she knew I was going out in public like this.

I wandered around the drugstore, unsure of what to do. I certainly had no experience with this. I couldn't tell the difference between any of the tests so I quickly threw three different ones into my basket. Ten minutes later I was sitting in my apartment staring at the tests, too nervous to open them and find out the news that I knew would drastically change my future.

With a sigh I picked up my phone and called Edward.

"Hello," an annoyingly nasal voice answered. I was taken aback – who was this chick answering my Edward's phone.

"Um . . hello. Is Edward there?" I asked.

"Edward is a little indisposed at the moment," she replied, her voice full of innuendo.

"Oh. Uh." This day just wasn't getting any better. "Would you mind telling him I called?"

"That would require you telling me who this is calling," she replied shortly.

I'd had it. "Bella, his _girlfriend_." I made sure to emphasize the word girlfriend. I don't know who this chick was, but she'd better stay away from my Edward. I knew I'd normally not have these jealous type reactions, it wasn't like I didn't trust Edward completely, but my emotions were everywhere.

The girl on the phone scoffed, "I'll be sure to let him know." And with that, she hung up the phone.

Now, not only was I stressed out, I was also pissed off. I knew I needed to take the tests and have that answer first. I grabbed the bag containing all three tests and headed for the bathroom. I carefully read each set of instructions and went about taking all three pregnancy tests.

Ten minutes later I was staring at three tests all giving the same results – I am pregnant. I was desperately trying to think of things logically, but I couldn't stop the panic from building up. Edward and I had talked about the possibility of having kids sometime in the future, but way in the future, after I was done with my Master's and he was out of Med School. I wasn't ready for this. We weren't ready for this.

I called and made an appointment for the next day at my OB-GYN, wanting to have it professionally diagnosed and see what I needed to do in order to take care of the baby.

Edward called that evening and at that point I had decided that I would wait to tell him until he was home for Thanksgiving next week. I am horrible at hiding my emotions though and he knew something was wrong. I just kept insisting that I just had a bad day.

"So . . " I started, "who were you with earlier today?"

Edward seemed confused, "When? I haven't been around anyone. I had class this morning, came home to take a shower and get changed and headed to work."

I sighed, suddenly having a strong gut feeling as to who I was talking to earlier. No wonder Edward hadn't gotten the message that I called him. "And where did you leave your phone when you took your shower?"

Edward seemed to think about the question for a few moments before replying, "I think I left it on the kitchen table. Why?"

I smiled into the phone, "I just had an interesting conversation earlier with your ever friendly roommate."

Edward groaned, "Don't tell me Victoria answered my phone?"

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "I really don't think she likes me."

"You know not to take anything she says to heart, right B?" he asked, sounding seriously concerned.

"I know Edward. She just better keep her hands away from my man."

Edward laughed, breaking the tension. "All yours."

"I love you," I told him.

The next day I packed a bag and headed to Forks as soon as my Algebra class was finished. I had already called in sick to work and had told Charlie that I would be staying the night with him. My appointment was for three o'clock with Dr. Gerandy at Forks General Hospital.

Dr. Gerandy just confirmed everything I already knew. He gave me tips on changes I needed to make to my diet and gave me a prescription for some prenatal vitamins and some nausea medication. I went straight from the hospital to the pharmacy to the nearest bookstore and picked up several books on pregnancy and parenting. I then headed to Charlie's.

I returned to Seattle the next day, prepared to work my evening shift at 'The Bookworm'. I only had to suffer through a few more days, then Edward would be here and we could work this all out. I knew everything would be better when Edward got here.

* * *

EPOV

I looked around the airport for Bella – she was always waiting for me right at the gate before. I had been standing here for almost fifteen minutes and was just about to head to the baggage claim to get my bags.

"Edward!" I heard her call, fairly breathlessly. I looked up to see my beautiful girl flushed with a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she ran towards me. I held my arms open as she jumped into them. "Sorry I'm late," she said, burying her head in the crook of my neck.

We grabbed my bags and headed to her car. I couldn't help notice the changes in her – her hair hung limply down her sides and didn't have it's normal shine, her cheeks appeared sunken in, like she had lost an unhealthy amount of weight, and her smile didn't reach her eyes like it normally did. It almost had a sad quality to it. She still had on her signature jeans and my Forks High Baseball sweatshirt.

"So, back to Forks?" she asked, sliding into the driver's seat.

I nodded, still distracted by her appearance. We drove back to Forks in near silence, the only sound from the radio, which was turned so low I could barely make out what song was playing. Bella pulled up to my house but made no move to get out of the car.

"Are you not coming in, Love?" I asked, thoroughly confused. Bella always came in to see my family.

She shook her head, "I'm not feeling very well, I think I'm going to head on over to Charlie's and take a nap."

My brows furrowed. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Bella gave me a weak smile and shook her head, "Nah, I appreciate it, really, but I'm just going to go lay down. You need to go see your family. I'm sure Ali is bouncing off the walls ready to see you."

I nodded my head and reached in to run my fingers along her cheek, "Okay, I'll call you later." She nodded in response, "Love you, B."

She looked up at that and made eye contact for the first time since she had picked me up at the airport. "I love you too Edward."

I threw my bag over my shoulder and made my way into my parent's home, alone. Of course everyone asked where Bella was and why she hadn't come in. She always came in. I couldn't get her haggard look and distant attitude out of my mind. She'd been acting off for a couple of weeks now.

"So what's really up with B?" Alice asked as she bounded into my room and jumped onto my bed.

I ran my fingers through my messy hair, Bella was really starting to stress me out. "I don't know Ali. All I ever get out of her is the occasional 'I've had a rough day', but she doesn't ever elaborate. Has she said anything to you?"

Alice shook her tiny head. "No, I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation. She seems so distant lately. She doesn't answer my calls half the time anymore. I'm really getting worried about her."

"Me too Ali, me too."

* * *

Thanksgiving Day went off without a hitch and Bella seemed to be halfway back to her old self. She insisted she was feeling better after she had rested yesterday, but I still noticed she didn't eat very much. I was almost to the point I was going to ask her to have Carlisle check her out.

It was now Friday evening and Bella and I were curled up on the couch watching tv.

"Edward," she started, her voice breaking just saying my name.

"Yes, Love," I responded, lifting my hand to move the hair back that had fallen in her face.

"We really need to talk."

My breath caught in my throat, "Okay . . ."

Bella looked down and I swear I saw a tear fall. I lifted my hand to gently lift her chin so she was forced to look at me. "Bella, you can talk to me about anything you know."

Bella gave me a weak smile and wiped the tear from her face. "I know Edward, I know." She paused for a moment, then went on, "I just really don't think you're going to like what I have to talk to you about."

"EDWARD!" Emmett yelled from the top of the stairs, effectively breaking the little bubble Bella and I had enclosed ourselves in.

"What?" I snapped back at him. I really needed to know what Bella wanted to talk to me about.

"Rizzolski is throwing a party and we are all going!" Emmett continued, his voice still impossibly loud.

"Nah, man, I think B and I are going to just crash here for the night."

"But you never get to see any of your old friends from Forks," he argued.

Bella gave me a weak smile, "He's right Edward, let's go to the party. We can talk later."

What? Bella never volunteered to go to a party. She was so much more comfortable sitting around the house with one of her worn copies of Wuthering Heights. I suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that Bella was volunteering to go to this party just to avoid talking to me.

Bella unwrapped herself from the blanket we were cuddled in and made her way up the stairs to Alice's room.

* * *

BPOV

I am such a chicken. I've had the whole weekend to tell Edward about the baby, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. This was going to change everything. I had almost gotten the guts to tell him on Friday night, but Emmett had interrupted us. I couldn't deny that I was relieved. So here we were, back at the airport and Edward was about to get on a plane to New Hampshire. I've got to tell him soon, before anyone else finds out. Not that I'm starting to show yet, but that won't last long, and Angela has certainly been nosey about my constant nausea and vomiting. I will be so glad when this morning sickness is over with.

"Bella," Edward interrupted my self-depreciating internal rant, "We're running out of time here, what did you want to talk to me about?"

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him. "I know, this isn't exactly a middle of the airport type of conversation."

"But you will talk to me?" he asked, "Whenever you feel ready?"

I nodded my head, hugging him tighter. "I promise."

I could feel Edward nod above me, "Okay, that's good enough then." And with that, he turned and walked toward the terminal.


	12. Chapter 12

BPOV

_Dear Edward,_

_I know I should've talked to you when you were home this weekend, I'm sorry, I guess my nerves got the better of me. So, after much thought and an overly rehearsed speech I decided I would write you this letter. The purpose of this is two-fold – it saves me from having to face you when you learn this news, and it saves you from having to put on some happy false bravado. I want you to be able to take your time and truly think about what this all means and what you want for your future. No matter what you decide to do with this information, I want you to know I will always love and respect you._

_Edward, I'm pregnant._

_Call me when you want to talk. _

_Love You Always,_

_Bells_

I sighed as I ran my tongue across the seal of the letter, allowing a few of my tears to stain the white envelope. I walked down to the mailbox at the end of my block and effectively mailed away my heart.

* * *

Victoria POV

I rushed to the mailbox, hoping the red leather boots I had ordered would've finally arrived. I grabbed the mail and sullenly walked back to the house, no box big enough for boots. I sat down at the kitchen table and quickly flipped through the stack of mail, dividing it up for all of my housemates. I couldn't help but pause at the worn looking white envelope to Edward from his precious Bella. I truly didn't understand why he stayed with that plain boring girl. Not to mention that she was on the other side of the country. It's not like I hadn't offered him a good time on more than one occasion. He'd always declined. You would've thought he was a damned boy scout. I was alone in the house and allowed my curiosity to get the better of me. I used the iron to steam open the envelope and quickly pulled out the contents. I couldn't believe it – that plain little mousling had gotten herself knocked up by Edward. There was no way in hell he would leave her now, he was too responsible for that. Shit.

An hour later I was still sitting at the kitchen table, an idea starting to form in my head. I quickly went to my computer, placing my fingers to the keys I quickly typed a new letter 'to Edward, from Bella'. I placed it in the envelope that had previously contained the real letter and carefully resealed it and placed it back in the pile of Edward's mail. I took Bella's letter and shoved it in the top drawer of my desk.

If I couldn't get Edward to leave his precious Bella, then I was going to see if I could convince him that she was leaving him.

* * *

EPOV

I threw my binder and books into my book bag and headed out of my last class for the day. Tiffany's had finally called, the engagement ring I had ordered for Bella had finally come in and I was free to pick it up any time. I had been working part time for the better part of the last year to save up the money for Bella's ring. I know I had plenty of money and then some from my trust – but that money was just given to me and I wanted this ring to mean something. I wanted to earn it for her. The ring was a beautiful square cut diamond, with two small emeralds accenting each side.

I sat the ring on my desk, staring at it as I worked on my homework for the evening. I had called Bella earlier as I was on my way home, but she said she still wasn't feeling well, so our conversation didn't last long. She seemed in better spirits than the last time I had talked to her though. She said she decided that it was easier to write me about whatever it was that had been bothering her so much. I think knowing that she had written it down was a major weight off of her shoulders. I insisted that she could tell me anything, she promised she knew that but she felt better doing it this way.

It was two days later when I got the letter. I took it up to my room and sat down on my bed, ready to read whatever had my Bella so stressed out. I was surprised to find the letter was typed, that was very un-Bella like. She always wrote personal correspondence, claimed it was 'much more personal'.

_Dear Edward,_

_I wanted you to know that I have met someone else. I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to tell you this in person. You and I have grown apart. You need to move on with your life. Find someone new. Enjoy your college experience._

_Edward, Please do not try to contact me. It will just make everything that much harder. A clean break would be better. Have a good life._

_-Bella_

I had to re-read the letter about fifteen times before I could even partially comprehend it. My eyes had started to tear up after the first sentence. Bella, my Bella, had met someone else. She didn't want to be with me anymore? I couldn't make sense of the words in my mind. I reached for my phone, my first response to call Bella, but she had asked me not to and that broke my heart even more.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, I'm pretty sure the house could've burned down around me and I wouldn't have noticed. It took me almost a week to even leave my room, and then it was only to attend school and work. I seemed to do slightly better then, having something to take up a small part of my mind that could be freed of my Bella induced stupor. I threw myself into my school work, which was almost a requirement after missing a week of classes, especially this close to finals. I couldn't bring myself to travel back to Forks for Christmas, I just knew I didn't have the heart for it.

Alice and Jasper flew to New Hampshire as soon as their finals were over. I had barely spoken to any of my family and I certainly hadn't had the heart to tell them that Bella and I were no longer together. They all adored Bella and already considered her a part of the family, this would hurt them too.

"EDWARD!" Alice screeched, bounding into my room. Jasper followed casually behind her and actually had the courtesy to knock, not that it mattered since Alice has already stormed in, but at least the thought was there. Alice was talking a mile a minute, chastising me for not calling more frequently and for my lame excuse of school work for missing Christmas. She was still rambling about ten minutes later when she finally stopped to take a breath and finally took stock of my room. My normally spot-free clean room had dirty clothes strung everywhere, there were empty pop bottles and candy wrappers lining my desk. The biggest give away though had to be my now bare walls. I had taken all of the pictures of Bella down and slid them under my bed. I didn't have the heart to actually do anything with them, but I just couldn't take looking at her smiling face all the time. It just hurt too much. "Edward?" Alice finally questioned.

I couldn't bring myself to explain this to Alice, just as I hadn't truly talked to anyone about it. All I did was mope around. So instead of explaining myself, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the very worn letter that Bella had sent me. With a shaking hand I held it out to my pixie sister.

Tears streamed down Ali's face as she read the letter and Jasper was suddenly on the bed with us, his arms around Alice. "I . . . I can't . . . believe . . she would . . . do this." Ali finally choked out.

"I couldn't either, Ali, I couldn't either," I said, shaking my head. Alice handed the letter back to me, her hand shaking.

Alice and Jasper stayed with me for almost a week, but decided they needed to go back to Washington for Christmas. It was going to be hard enough on Esme that I wasn't going to be there this year. They all tried their hardest to convince me to come, but I just couldn't. Alice passed the word on to the rest of the family about Bella and I splitting up, but, per my request, gave them no details. I didn't want them mad at Bella over this. No matter what, I still loved her. I dropped Alice and Jasper off at the airport at noon on Christmas Eve and returned to the solitude of my bedroom.

Victoria decided to stay in New Hampshire over our break, something about needing to work. I had a feeling it was because I was the only one who would be staying in the house over break, everyone else had gone home to their families. I was absolutely floored when she knocked on my door Christmas Day dressed in a Mrs. Santa negligee. I'm actually surprised I didn't break her fingers with as fast as I slammed my door. First thing the next morning I went to a hardware store and changed my door knob to one that had a lock and key, something I'd never realized was a necessity before.

I picked up extra hours at work to keep myself busy. I had initially planned on quitting my low paying job once Bella's ring was paid for, but then it served as a distraction and helped me kill time. I signed up for two extra classes on top of the full load I had already enrolled in for the spring semester and took on more responsibilities than any sane person could ever want.

Esme and Carlisle came to visit mid-February. I was trying, I really was, but I knew they could both see the dead look in my eyes. My life no longer held that spark that it once had. The one that had been there from the moment the untouchable and unobtainable Bella Swan had walked into my life. I should've known better back then. Although as much as I wanted to feel that way, I knew I was kidding myself. I would never regret a moment of the time I had spent with Bella. Esme had tried talking to me about Bella a few times, but I refused to listen, and she seemed to take the hint. Our conversations stayed very superficial after that.

* * *

BPOV

I spoke with Edward for half an hour the night after I sent the letter. Unfortunately I had to cut the conversation short because my dinner had decided to make a reappearance. I was seriously questioning the sanity of whomever named it 'morning sickness' because mine certainly didn't stick with just the morning. I didn't call Edward over the next few days. I was sure by the third day that he would've gotten my letter and I didn't want to push him. He could call me once he'd had time to process that information.

I was still feeling okay with life over the next few days. I'm sure Edward was in shock with the news I had dropped on him and still needed some time to adjust. Hell, I'd known for weeks now and still hadn't completely adjusted to the idea. I occasionally talked to Ali and would ask her if she had heard from him. At first she had scoffed at me and told me that I talked to him far more than she had, the next time I asked her she said she hadn't heard from him since the day after Thanksgiving and she was starting to get worried. He wasn't returning any of her phone calls. This worried me. If Edward was upset and didn't want to talk to me, I could understand that, it was after all, my irresponsibility that had landed us in this mess. But why would Edward not be talking to his family? He and Alice were always so close.

I was starting to panic by the next week – I was sure I would've heard from Edward by then. I was really hoping he would call – I was suppose to go back to see Dr. Gerandy on Friday and I wanted to talk to him about it.

Friday came and went with no word from Edward. I'd been reduced to crying myself to sleep every night. I just didn't understand it. I knew that this would all be a horrible shock and would take a lot of time to work through, but it never remotely crossed my mind that Edward would just walk out of my life without another word.

It's not like I hadn't considered what his reaction would be. I definitely had a few best case and worst case scenarios that had played through my head a few million times, but even in my worst of worst case scenarios had I ever thought that Edward would just walk away. I had imagined Edward flying home on his breaks to help me with our child, but me taking care of it while he was away at Dartmouth, that was one of my worst case scenarios. In the best case scenarios I had moved to New Hampshire with him or he had moved back to Seattle. We would get a place of our own and raise our baby together.

On Saturday I wrote Edward another letter, but kept it as short and sweet as possible.

_Edward,_

_I don't know if you want to know or not, but I saw Dr. Gerandy yesterday. I got to listen to our child's heartbeat. Dr. Gerandy said it sounded strong and healthy. To me, it just sounded very fast. Dr. G says everything is looking good. I just thought you might want to know._

_-B_

I was taking my History final when I got the screeching phone call from Alice. At first I thought maybe she thought I was just ignoring her call, but after picking out a few more key words from her high pitched rambling, I figured out she had talked to Edward. I'm not sure what exactly he had told her, but it apparently didn't include anything about the baby or him leaving me. At the end of Alice's message she screeched that I was not to contact her, Edward or any of the other Cullen's ever again.

That cemented it for me. I knew that day that Edward wasn't just figuring out what to do with our situation – he had made his decision, and that was to leave us behind. If it hadn't just happened I would've argued and told anyone who would listen that Edward wouldn't do that to me and certainly wouldn't ever do that to any child of his, planned or not.

I skipped work that afternoon, curling myself up in a little ball on my bed and crying for hours.

I knew there was no way I could have this child without any support. I didn't have the money or time or experience to be able to handle a child. I spoke with Angela that night and told her that I would be moving out in a few days when I went back to Forks for Christmas Break. I would not be returning to college at U-Dub. I tried to get Angela to accept money for my half of the next month's rent, since I knew I was dumping this on her suddenly, but she politely refused. I felt slightly better when she told me that she had been thinking about moving in with Ben as it was, but hadn't wanted to leave me behind.

So, after my last final at the University of Washington, I packed everything I could fit into my small car and headed back to the small town of Forks.

I had left everything in my car initially, unwilling to unpack anything until I had Charlie's approval to move back home, which also included telling him about the baby. It took hours to convince my father not to kill Edward, but only moments for him to agree to let me have my childhood room back. He even called Jacob and convinced him and Sam to take his truck and get the rest of my belongings from Seattle. I had volunteered to go with them, but they had insisted I needed to stay home and rest.

It was the day after Christmas when I got my first and second letter back, 'RETURN TO SENDER' written in a harsh black scrawl. Both letters had been shoved into the same envelope. I couldn't bring myself to throw the returned letters away, so I placed them in the drawer of my bedside table. I just couldn't believe he could just walk away like this. Even as I was living it, it was still impossible to believe. I lost practically everything – the love of my life, my best friend, the closest thing to brothers and sisters I would ever have, plus two people who had practically been like parents to me. There were many days I couldn't bring myself to even get out of bed. The thought of the small being growing in my belly was the only thing that kept me going.

I managed to get a full time job cashiering at the local grocery store and was also offered a few hours a week typing up advertisements and obituaries for the Forks News, our tiny little version of a newspaper that was printed once a week. Having two jobs kept me exhausted, but I appreciated it. It helped keep my mind off of Edward and how screwed up my life had become.

Charlie and Jacob were worried about me, that was more than apparent. Charlie had called Renee and had her come visit. She took me shopping, not my favorite past time, but I knew it was necessary. We picked up a crib, a stroller, a baby seat and a few other things that would be necessities when the baby came. For once, Renee was actually acting like a mother. She had thought it would help relieve some of my stress if these things were taken care of, and she was right. She also paid for everything we bought, insisting she wanted to help with her first grandchild.

I continued to write Edward, but only after my doctor's appointments, and only updates on the baby. I never mentioned myself or the problems I was struggling through. I know he didn't want to hear any of this, but some small part of me felt that I should still try to tell him. It seemed unfair that Charlie, Jake, Renee and others knew things about his child that he didn't. So that was what I did, I wrote to Edward about our child and only gave updates to everyone else once the letter had been returned. Every letter was returned, unopened, the same dark black scrawl across the front 'RETURN TO SENDER'.

Jacob continued to come by every day or two, occasionally bringing more pregnancy and parenting books, plus things he had read was healthy for me to eat, but usually he just stayed and hung out. He knew how lonely I was without the Cullens and was trying his best to help fill that void. Jake's girlfriend, Leah, would come with him every once in awhile. The two of us would fix dinner while Jake and Charlie watched some basketball game. I was truly surprised at how friendly Leah had become. I guess she finally understood that Jacob and I were just good friends and that I was no threat to her.


	13. Chapter 13

Mid-March

BPOV

"So how much longer are you going to make me wait?" Jacob asked as we finished eating dinner at the diner.

I shook my head and sighed, taking a moment to fiddle with the frill on the hem of my maternity shirt. It had been a week since the letter I'd sent Edward had been returned to me, letting him know that he would have a daughter. Jake knew my rule – no one was to find out any details about the baby until I'd let the father knew. A small smile crept across my face at the thought of my daughter and I absentmindedly rubbed my rounded belly yet again. I looked back up to Jake and my grin grew. "I'm having a girl."

Jacob jumped out of his chair and had me swinging in his arms instantly. "I'm so happy for you!" he yelled, swinging me in another big circle. Jacob's laugh was infectious and I found myself laughing along with someone for the first time in months.

"What the hell?!?!" came the shrieking voice from behind me. I'd know that voice anywhere. Jake lowered me to the ground and I turned around to come face to face with a shaking mad Alice Cullen. Jasper was standing behind her looking dumbstruck, but at least he didn't look mad, just very confused.

Jacob took a protective step in front of me, which honestly looked like I needed with as pissed off as Alice was at the moment. I looked down, shuffling my feet and willing myself not to cry. "Hi Alice," I mumbled.

"THIS," she wildly gestured between Jake and I, "THIS is why you abandoned us? This is why you DESTROYED my brother?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, still staring at my shoes as the tears began to fall.

"You're SORRY?!?" Alice was still screaming and by now, everyone in the diner was staring at the four of us. "You're sorry! Did you even bother to wait until Edward got your letter to jump into bed with Jake? You horrible cheap little slut! How could you be so heartless? And then you're stupid enough to get knocked up – What the hell? Do you have any idea what you have done to Edward? Oh my god, this is going to kill him. This is going to absolutely kill him . . ."

Alice was still rambling on when Jacob spoke up. "If it hadn't been for your worthless brother she wouldn't be in this situation to begin with!" Jake screamed back, prompting Jasper to take a protective step in front of Alice. I had refused to tell anyone who the father was, and while most of the town was convinced that I'd had a one night stand in Seattle and couldn't even remember the name of the random guy they were assuming I slept with, Jake knew me better. I would never confirm it for him, but Jake wasn't stupid, and he knows me.

I dared to look up at this point. Alice's face was bright red, tears streaming down her cheeks. I had never seen Alice look so angry, or hurt. The sight was too much. I reached for Jake as I felt the familiar darkness cover my eyes.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in my bed, my comforter tucked tightly around me. I was still in the maternity clothes I had worn to the diner with Jake. I glanced toward the window to see a few rays of morning light starting to peak through. I felt stiff and dirty, still feeling the dried tear tracks from the sobs that had taken over me the previous night. With a great amount of effort I pulled myself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, intent on a nice calming shower. I made it halfway through before the sobs racked my body again. I couldn't shake the broken angry look on Alice's face and the harsh words she had screeched at me. She had been my best friend for so long. I'd often wondered what Edward had told his family about our situation. It was glaringly obvious now that whatever he had told them, it had not been the truth. I'm not sure what I was expecting him to have told them, especially since I hadn't heard one word from him in the four months since I'd told him I was pregnant, but I really hadn't been prepared for the hatred and venom in Alice's voice. I managed to pull myself together enough to rinse the shampoo out of my hair and stumble back into my room. As much as I wanted to hate Edward for doing this to me, I never could. I still loved him too much, and deep in my heart I knew this was my choice too. I had told Edward I wasn't going to ruin his future or take any of his money. He was going to physically be a father, but I wasn't going to require him to be a dad. I quickly threw on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats, intent on climbing right back into bed. As I sat down, I reached over to my desk chair and pulled the grey 'Forks High Baseball' sweatshirt over to me, quickly sliding it on. It was huge on me, even with my ever expanding belly. It had been Edward's workout sweatshirt his senior year of high school and still faintly smelled of him. I had borrowed it one night the summer after he graduated and never returned it to him. I pulled the material up to my nose and sniffed, igniting a fresh round of tears. I fell asleep a short while later, hugging his shirt tightly to my body and repeatedly mumbling his name.

EPOV

I had been unknowingly staring at a blank tv screen for I don't know how long. I don't know why I ever agreed to come back here. It hurt too much. Everywhere I looked there were too many painful memories. Bella and I had been together for so long, everywhere I looked held something of her. Even though Esme had gone through the house and attempted to remove those type of things, their absence made it worse. The space on the wall that had held the photo of us from prom, Bella's graduation picture that had been next to the rest of ours, she was always part of the family. Then there were the memories Esme couldn't attempt to hide without demolishing the house and starting all over. The number of hours Bella and I had laid curled up on this very couch watching movies with my family. This very couch where I had kissed her for the first time, and many times after. The music sheets that remain in my piano bench that had Bella's Lullaby written on them, along with the words that Bella had so carefully written in the corner. There was one note that had been bothering me and I had wanted to look over the music one day but when I pulled it out, my notes weren't the only thing written on the pages. In the top corner Bella had carefully written 'I Love You Edward' with a small heart under it. That small gesture had meant so much to me.

I was pulled out of my reverie by the slamming of the front door and Alice and Jasper arguing. I had never heard Alice yell at Jasper the way she was now. Don't get me wrong, the girl could yell and throw a hissy fit with the best of them, but she NEVER yelled at Jasper. Something was definitely wrong. And if I'd thought it was bad when I heard the yelling, I knew it was horrific when I saw my sister's face. When she saw me she immediately went silent and threw her tiny body around me, gripping on for dear life. My arms instinctively went around her small form, hugging her tightly. I looked up to Jasper in hopes of an answer as to what was wrong.

"You'd better sit down Edward," was the only response I got as he hung his head. No one said anything as I led Alice back to the living room and sat us back down on the couch. I looked back to Jasper, desperately needing to know what was going on. "We were going to go to dinner at the diner and we ran into Bella." I sucked in a sharp breath. "Edward, she wasn't alone. She's with Jacob Black now." I shook my head, trying to displace the thoughts of Bella with Jacob, or anyone else for that matter. "It gets worse," he continued, "She's pregnant." With that, the few shards that were left of my heart imploded. Any thought of her ever changing her mind and deciding she wanted me again vanished. She'd created a whole other life without me. I sat there, continuing to hold Alice, but I couldn't have told you anything else that was said. Once Alice had calmed down I passed her over to Jasper and muttered that I needed to get out of the house. With that, I was in the car and on the road. I didn't pay any attention to what direction I was driving, I just needed to get away. By 2am I was passed San Francisco and decided I needed to turn back home. I called Ali to tell her that I was okay and heading back and turned the car around. By the time I'd reached Forks I'd made up my mind that I needed to talk to Bella. I needed some closure.

I pulled up to the Swan residence around 9am, having not slept in over 24 hours. I'm sure I looked like death warmed over. After three knocks Charlie answered the door. He looked like he had aged 10 years in the last four months. I couldn't tell if he was more surprised or angry to see me, but I think anger was winning out. "Hello Chief Swan," I started, "I was wondering if I could speak with Bella for a moment." Charlie seemed to study me for a moment and I guess my haggard look might have actually helped me in this instance.

Charlie lifted up a finger and shook it right in my face, "If you upset her, I will not hesitate to haul you out of here and lock you up in jail."

I nodded my head and slid past Charlie and up the stairs toward Bella's room. I knocked quietly. No response. I knocked a little louder. Still no response. "Bella, it's Edward." I called. "Bella, I'm going to come in." I gently opened the door and gasped at the sight in front of me. Bella was curled up on her bed in my sweatshirt, tear stains evident across her still reddened cheeks. Her hair was splayed out around her and her arms were gently wrapped around her obviously pregnant belly. Even with the tear stains and pregnant with another man's child, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I leaned down next to her and before I could stop myself, ran a finger along the side of her cheek. I just had to touch her.

"Edward," she mumbled in her sleep. My non-existent heart leapt in my chest at hearing my name fall from her lips. I had to stop that, it was just going to make this that much harder.

"Bella," I called again, gently shaking her shoulder. She stirred then and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw me sitting there before her she jumped so suddenly that she almost fell of the back of the bed. Even in my destroyed state, I couldn't help but chuckle at her startled face.

Tears immediately sprung to her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked shakily, her eyes never leaving my face.

I looked down, unable to bear the hurt look on her face. "Alice told me about yesterday."

Bella snorted and a look of understanding crossed her face. "So you came here to make sure I'm not going to tell your family about the baby."

I shook my head as another pang ran through my chest. It was so much to hear her actually acknowledge the child. I scoffed, "Pretty sure Alice already knows about the baby."

Bella shook her head sadly, more tears leaking out. "I didn't tell her it's yours if that's what you're worried about. I haven't told anyone."

My eyes shot back to her face, not believing what I was hearing. "Wh-What?!?" I stuttered.

Bella shot me a confused look. "I haven't told anyone that you are the father." She paused for a moment, "I promised you that you wouldn't have to be involved if you didn't want to be, that includes not being guilted into it by your family."

Nothing was making sense and my head was spinning. My lack of sleep was not helping my brain function either. "Bella, I haven't heard one word from you since you sent me the letter breaking up with me."

Bella shook her head, obviously as confused as I was. "Break up with YOU? I have sent you a letter every month since you left at Thanksgiving. You sent them all back."

I shook my head, beyond confused. I reached in my back pocket and pulled out the letter that I had carried around since the day I had received it. I held it out to Bella. She tentatively accepted it. Bella opened the letter and read through it, the sharp V forming between her eyebrows. She gasped a few times as she read it. When she was done she looked back at me, more tears shining in her eyes, and something else . . . possibly hope? "Edward," she started, her voice already breaking repeatedly, "I didn't write this."

Bella leaned across her bed to the bedside table. She opened the drawer and pulled out several envelopes, tied together with a light green ribbon. With a shaky hand, she handed the envelopes to me. "Go ahead," she whispered, nodding toward my hands.

I pulled the top one out, it was dated November 28th and was obviously in Bella's handwriting. I started reading, occasionally glancing up at Bella's face. The tears had slowed and she was chewing on her bottom lip. I couldn't believe what I was reading as I flipped through each of the letters she had handed me, the most recent dated a week and a half ago, telling me that we were going to have a daughter. I shook my head, so many questions swirling in my mind, but most of them could wait, right now there were very few I HAD to have the answers to. "What about you and Jacob?"

Bella scoffed, "Jacob is the same as he has ALWAYS been. A dear friend. Alice just walked into the diner as I told Jacob about the sonogram results." She blew out a deep breath. "I wouldn't tell anyone anything I'd found out until I was sure you knew – I thought you should be the first to know. I waited to tell Jake that it is a girl until my last letter was returned." Bella looked down at her lap again as she finished, fresh tears falling.

"So . . . so . . " I couldn't get through the sentence. I wanted to hope, but was terrified to have the few remains of my heart shattered. "You still wa . . want me?"

Bella's head jerked up so she could look at me. She tilted her head to the side a little bit and let out a shaky laugh. "Of course I still want you, you stupid boy." She reached forward and pushed against my shoulder, half playfully.

That was all it took – I lunged for her, pulling her into my arms and peppering kisses all over her face. I could hear the smile in Bella's laugh and felt the happy tears that were running down her face. She hungrily returned my kisses, her hands knotting in my hair, pulling me closer. We didn't break apart until breathing became an absolute necessity, and even then our arms were wrapped so tightly around one another you couldn't have fit a toothpick between us. "I've missed you so much," she sobbed into my shoulder.

I ran my hand down the back of her hair, attempting to comfort her. "I've missed you too." I placed a quick kiss above her ear, hugging her tightly to me. "I didn't know, Bella. I swear I didn't know. If I'd known I would've been here with you every step of the way." I pulled back to look at her. "I will be here for you. For you and our daughter. I know this will take a lot to work out, but we will work it out together." I took a deep breath, starting to think clearly for the first time since Bella had said she still wanted to be with me. Bella still had two years of undergrad school left, plus she'd wanted to get her Master's. I had a year left at Dartmouth before I would start med school, I could probably get it done in six months if I took a really heavy load. But even that was thinking too far in advance. I still had to go back to New Hampshire to finish this semester. "When are you due?"

Bella smiled at me, her tears softening. "May 30th."

The gears started turning again in my head. My last class was May 12th but I had finals the next week. The soonest I could get home would be around the 19th. In time, but it was cutting it closer than I was comfortable with. "When are your finals over?" The University of Washington usually got out of school around the same time I did. Bella looked back down at her lap again, unwilling to look at me. She didn't answer my question and suddenly appeared uncomfortable. "Bella," I started, reaching a hand out to place a finger under her chin and lifting it so that she was looking at me again.

"I couldn't deal with all of this alone," she started, her voice cracking again. "And I couldn't afford it. I moved back here before Christmas. I've been working two jobs so I might have enough to get an apartment and get out of Charlie's hair after the baby is born."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing – Bella had dropped out of school? But Bella loved school. She had so many plans, and not a one of them included not completing her degree. And for money of all things – I could've given her whatever she'd needed. I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. "Well, that stops right now," I started. Bella started to argue, but I held my hand up to quiet her, "I know you don't like to accept things from other people, but this isn't just for you anymore, this is for our daughter." Bella was stubborn to no end when it came to accepting things from others, but I didn't think she would do anything that would put our child at risk if she didn't have to. "You can't tell me that the doctor approves of you working 60 hours a week." Bella shook her head, agreeing with me. "Okay, well, it's too late to do anything about this semester, I suppose we could stay in Forks until the baby is born and then find an apartment in Seattle this summer. We can get you re-enrolled this fall." I stood from the bed, releasing Bella from my hold for the first time and started pacing across the room. "I can probably get my application in to get transferred fast enough that I could get in this fall. This could work."

"Edward!" Bella interrupted as I was continuing to ramble on my potential plans for our future. I haulted my pacing for a moment to look at her. "You are not leaving Dartmouth."

I stared at her, uncomprehending. Of course I was leaving Dartmouth. There was no way I was leaving my girlfriend and my daughter halfway across the nation just so I could go to some fancy school, especially some fancy school I'd already considered leaving. Bella and I argued for over an hour on what to do with our futures. We were both being stubborn, but both of our arguments were trying to do what we thought was best for the other. We finally came to an agreement, since Bella insisted I had to graduate from Dartmouth, she and the baby would move to New Hampshire with me for the next semester. The University of Washington offered enough online classes that she could get away with completing one semester from across the country. It wasn't the perfect scenario, but it put Bella and I back together and Bella back in school. Once I graduated from Dartmouth, Bella and I would move back to Washington. Bella could continue her work on her English Lit degree and I could attend U-Dub's Med School.


	14. Chapter 14

BPOV

Three Hours Later

"Edward," I asked tentatively. I knew there was a subject we still needed to talk about, but neither of us had been willing to broach it yet. We had yet to leave my room, but had repositioned ourselves to a slightly more comfortable position. Edward was leaning against the headboard of my bed and I was sitting between his legs, leaning back against his chest. He had his arms wrapped around me, his hands tracing light circles on my expanded belly.

"Yes Love?"

I had a theory as to the cause of our problems, but I always tended to second guess myself, so I wasn't absolutely sure. "Who . . " my voice suddenly became more shaky than I cared for it to, "Who do you think wrote the letter?"

Edward's arms tightened ever so slightly. "I'll take care of it Love, don't you worry about it."

This confirmed my suspicions. "I swear if I ever see her again, I will rip her limb from limb," I seethed. I was starting to see red and my anger just continued to grow. How dare she do this to us. She was the one who had caused both Edward and I months of heartache. I was going to absolutely murder Victoria. "You know what, I think I'll fly to New Hampshire right now to go kick her ass!" I screeched, jumping off the bed and out of Edward's arms. He was up and in front of me in a flash.

"Bella," he stated in his most authoritative voice, "I will take care of it." He paused again, "Not that she doesn't fully deserve a good ass kicking by a pissed off pregnant woman, I don't want you to take any additional risks. I will take care of it."

The emotions of the day had already been wearing me thing. I leaned against Edward's chest and started crying again. "I don't want you to go back there and stay in that house with her Edward. I know you have to go back, and I know it's irrational, but I don't want you staying with her."

Edward gave a light hearted laugh, lightening the mood slightly. "What have I said today that makes you think I would spend one more night under the same roof as her? The day I go back I will pack my belongings and crash at Seth's place."

I nodded my head, still buried in Edward's chest. Knowing that he wasn't planning on going back to that house made me feel so much better.

I curled up tight next to Edward as he resumed his position lying in the bed. Edward fell asleep shortly after, his arms tightly wrapped around me. He looked so exhausted.

Charlie stopped in a little while later with a sandwich and some chips.

"Shh. . " I whispered, attempting to pull myself into a sitting position without waking Edward.

Charlie smiled, but I could tell he was extremely apprehensive about the situation. I knew he just didn't want to see me hurt, and that was all he had seen for the last few months. I would have to set everything straight with him shortly.

"Eh, just thought you and my grandkid there might be a little hungry," Charlie said quietly, leaning forward to hand me the plate.

I smiled at him reassuringly, "Sounds wonderful Dad, Thank You."

Charlie nodded and headed back out of my bedroom door. It wasn't ten minutes later that I heard more rustling downstairs and the tell-tale sounds of Charlie loading his fishing gear up. Apparently he felt it was safe to leave Edward and I alone together finally.

A moment later Edward's phone began ringing, again. At least one of Edward's family had called every hour while he had been at my house. He never even removed his phone from his pocket.

The music from his phone woke Edward this time. His arms tightened around me subconsciously. "Mmm . . Can I just stay here forever and hold you?"

I smiled, sinking back to wrap my arms tightly around him. "Sounds like a good plan to me," I sighed, burying my face in his neck.

His phone began ringing again. Alice could certainly be persistent when she wanted to be. Not that I could blame her, I'm sure she was worried sick about Edward. I sighed, "I don't think the real world is going to let us get away with that though."

He chuckled, "The real world or just my family?"

I took a deep breath, an internal battle warring it out in my head. I did not want to have to face Alice or the rest of the Cullen family after what they thought I did to Edward. Alice's fury from the previous day had been more than enough to last me a lifetime. But I didn't want to be away from Edward for any length of time, even if we were surrounded by his family that currently hated me.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked, lifting a finger to tilt my chin so I was forced to look at him.

I bit my bottom lip and looked down. I knew lying was out, I was a horrible liar, even if I wasn't Edward always knew when something was bothering me. "I don't think your family likes me anymore," I whispered, my voice cracking and I knew more tears were making their way down my cheeks.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Edward whispered, gently wiping my tears away with his thumbs. "My family is upset by what they thought happened, just as I'm sure Charlie is still about ready to shoot me. We just need to talk to everyone and tell them the truth."

I hiccupped and lifted my head to look him in the eyes again. "Alice hates me."

Edward shook his head, "Alice is overprotective of her big brother and she thinks you intentionally left her as well as me. As soon as she knows the truth, she will be begging for your forgiveness for the scene yesterday, and for everything these past few months.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself into a sitting position, pulling Edward with me. "I suppose we should go talk to your family then." I said, not letting go of him.

"Yeah, before they call your dad looking for me," he chuckled.

"Are they going to be mad I'm dragging you away from med school at Dartmouth? Are they going to want to kill me for hurting you? What are they going to say about the baby?" I rambled, suddenly very nervous about what the rest of the Cullen's would think about their 21 year old son leaving Dartmouth to stick with his pregnant girlfriend in Seattle.

Edward shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, Congratulations."

When we walked through the entrance of Edward's house we were immediately surrounded by his family. ALL of his family, they'd even called Carlisle to come home from the hospital to help look for Edward. "Thank god you're home!" Esme cried throwing her arms around Edward at the same time Alice screeched, "What the hell is she doing here?!?" I took a step back to hide behind Edward.

Edward never let go of me as he lead his family into the living room. Once everyone was seated, Edward took a deep breath and started with the explanations. There were a few gasps and many tears as he told them we were going to have a baby. Rosalie kept staring at her lap, I know how hard this must be for her. Emmett was listening intently, while keeping a supportive arm around Rose. Esme came over and wrapped her arm around both Edward and I. Alice and Jasper looked extremely confused, still trying to take everything in and unsure of what to believe. Carlisle was by far the quietest. We finished our explanation of the letters and all the confusion, plus our plans for continuing school and raising our daughter.

"Edward," Carlisle said softly, "If her due date is May 30th, this child was conceived sometime in September. You left for New Hampshire the first week of August." Carlisle was always the calm, compassionate one and his statement was not meant to be an accusation, even I could tell that. He just wanted to make sure Edward knew.

For the first time in this entire conversation, Edward looked nervous. He looked down at his lap and our intertwined fingers, "I kind of flew to Seattle to see Bella on her birthday." This earned him a very relieved sigh and smile from Carlisle and a hefty smack upside the head from Esme.

"You came back to Seattle and didn't come see us!"

At this Emmett started to laugh, "I think Edward was obviously a little too busy at the time to think about coming to visit you mom." Everyone in the room started laughing, leave it to Emmett to break the tension. There were more tears and hugs all around, but this time they were all happy tears. Edward's entire family was supportive in the decisions we had made and supported me in wanting Edward to at least graduate with his undergrad degree from Dartmouth, but they liked the idea of us being close soon after.

"I knew you wouldn't do all that stuff they were saying about you, little sis," Emmett said, picking me up in a monster hug.

Edward looked at Emmett questioningly. "Eh, Jessica and the rest of the town got a little inventive when I wouldn't tell anyone you were the dad." I explained. "Apparently the newest story is that I was messing around on you in Seattle and got pregnant and the reason I wouldn't tell anyone who the father was is because I didn't know his name." I waved my hand dismissively, "Oh, and all of this is why you left me."

Edward shook his head disbelievingly. "Well, we'll just have to set that straight.

We all sat in the living room talking for the next few hours until I noticed it was starting to get darker out. "Edward, I need to be getting home so I can make Charlie dinner." Edward nodded and started to get up.

Alice quickly jumped up, "Actually, Bella, can I talk to you for a moment in private before you head out?"

Edward gave his sister a warning glare, then looked to me. I nodded my head slightly, letting him know I was okay with talking to Alice. Ali lead the way out the back door, making her way over to the bench next to the big oak tree we used to climb when we were little.

"Bella, I just want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I've watched how miserable Edward has been without you and I thought you voluntarily caused that. I was so angry that you would betray all of us like that. We trusted you and I thought you broke that trust, but it was actually me who shouldn't have been trusted. I never should've doubted you. I should've talked to you." Alice was staring at her hands, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm so honored that I get to be an Aunt to your little girl, and so very hopeful that someday you may be able to forgive me for the things I said."

"Alice, you are going to be a great Aunt and I'll always think of you as my sister. All of this is going to take a lot to get adjusted to, but I think we're all going to be okay." I reached over and wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug, well, as tight of a hug as I was able with my ever expanded belly.

We were still holding onto one another when Edward came back out, a content smile on his face. "Ready to go?" He asked, reaching down to help me up. I took his hand as he lead me to the car.

Charlie took the news of Edward and I much better than I expected. I knew it would take awhile for the anger he held toward Edward to fade, but he seemed to be making an effort. Heaven help Victoria if she ever set foot near Forks though – I'm not sure who was scarier, the Cullens or my father. I smiled thinking of my wonderful family. For the first time in months, things were looking up.

EPOV

I followed Bella up to her room after we said good night to Charlie. "So when do you have to go back to New Hampshire?" she asked, wandering through her room straightening things up, I think she was just trying to keep her hands busy.

"My flight leaves at 10am on Sunday," I replied, running through my schedule in my head, trying to figure out how soon I could come back to my Bella. "What do you want to do about an apartment for next fall? Do you want to try to come out sometime this summer, or do you want me to go ahead and find something?" The thought of living with Bella again brought a smile to my face.

"You can pick out a place. I trust your judgment." She started, but then had to add, "But nothing too expensive."

"Inexpensive two bedroom apartment, got it." I was already running through places in my mind. But there were more pressing matters on my mind. When Bella had walked outside to talk to Alice, I'd run upstairs and picked up her Christmas present. I had my hand around the little box in my pocket, nervously turning it in circles. I took her hand, pulling her from re-straightening some papers she had sitting on her desk. I lead her to sit on the edge of her bed, I think Bella could tell I was nervous and it was making her nervous. I kneeled down in front of her, "Bella, I want to give you your Christmas present."

Bella looked completely confused. "You got me a Christmas present?"

I smiled at her, "Of course."

Bella reached forward and ran her hand along my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," I started, taking a deep breath and pulling the box out of my pocket and opening it for her to see. "Merry be-lated Christmas?" I said.

Bella looked absolutely floored. "Ed . . Edward . . ." she stuttered, reaching a shaky hand out to touch the ring, "Is . . is this . . what I think it is?"

"Isabella Marie Swan, I love you so much and I know we talked about waiting until after school, but I want to be married to you. I want to be your husband and love, honor and cherish you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"

Bella pulled her hand back and my heart dropped to the floor. She kept looking at the ring and then back to my face. "You . . you didn't know about the baby until today?" she asked.

I was completely confused by her line of questioning, "Alice told me you were pregnant yesterday. I didn't know until today the truth about everything."

"And you were going to give this to me for Christmas?" she asked.

Her questions were starting to make more sense – she was worried I was doing this because of the baby. "Bella, when I took that job last spring, it was for this. I didn't want to use the trust fund money, or money from my family. I wanted to be able to earn the money for this myself. I wanted this to be something that I worked for, for you."

Bella bit her lip, a small smile forming. "Really?"

I smiled back at her, "Yes, really." I could tell she really liked the fact that I had worked for her ring. It wasn't just another thing that had been handed to me. "Now, are you going to marry me or not?" I added, grinning at her.

Bella's smile grew and the next thing I knew she threw herself at me. "Yes!" she yelled as we tumbled to the floor. "Yes I'll marry you!" She peppered my face with kisses as I grabbed her hand to slide the ring on her finger.

"Bella," Charlie called, knocking on the door, "I heard a crash, you okay?" He waited a moment and opened the door. "Oh, uh, sorry," he muttered, seeing us on the floor.

"Dad!" Bella screeched happily, not moving from her position on top of me, "Edward's going to marry me." She held her hand up, showing Charlie her ring.

Charlie looked between Bella's face splitting grin to the look of absolute adoration on mine. He shook his head, "About time."

He started to return the door to its closed position, but quickly added, "Congratulations."

Bella returned her attention to me. "Isabella Cullen," she murmured. "I like the sound of that." She was grinning almost as much as I was.

I took her hand and kissed every finger, lingering on the one that now held her engagement ring. "I do to."


	15. Chapter 15

BPOV

I woke up the next morning with Edward's arms wrapped around me. One hand was tightly around my middle, holding me close, while the other laid gently on my belly. His breathing was soft and even and I knew that he was still asleep. I could've stayed like this forever. It had been a long time since I had been this happy. I should've known it couldn't last though when I glanced up at my alarm clock and saw that it was already after 8. I was supposed to be at work by 9:30. I carefully disentangled myself from Edward's arms and padded barefoot to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I was amazed at how much difference the last twenty-four hours made. My cheeks had some color in them and the dark circles under my eyes were already diminishing. I actually looked almost healthy.

After a quick shower I made my way back to my room. Edward was still peacefully sleeping, his arm draped over the edge of my bed. I didn't want to wake him, but I didn't think he'd appreciate being left here alone with Charlie.

"Edward," I called, gently shaking his shoulder. It took a few moments but I was finally able to wake him. When I told him I had to go to work, he immediately hopped up, throwing his shoes and socks back on. He even insisted on driving me to work, insisting he wanted to spend as much time as possible with me. I don't think someone could've wiped the smile off of my face no matter how hard they tried. Edward was back in my life and was going to be a part of our daughter's life. The world finally seemed to turn back upright.

"I'll pick you up as soon as your done," Edward whispered, leaning over to kiss me. We had just pulled up at the grocery store and I did not want to get out of the car. Reluctantly I opened the door and stepped out.

"I love you, Edward," I called as I shut the door. It was muffled, but I heard him call 'I love you too' in response.

The day passed by in a blur. I did take a few minutes to talk to my boss about my new plans to be moving to New Hampshire at the end of the summer. I knew it was going to be hard on them when I had to take off for maternity leave and wasn't sure how they'd feel about me coming back to work for just a few weeks before leaving again. They were very sympathetic to my situation, but in the end we both decided it would be best for everyone if I went ahead and resigned when I took my maternity leave so that they could go ahead and hire someone new.

I was just about to finish my shift when Mrs. Stanley came through my check out line. Of course it would be the mother of one of the biggest gossips in town, and I'm pretty sure it was genetic. I was handing her her change when she suddenly grabbed my hand. "Wow! What a rock," she exclaimed, then with some disdain, and reassessing my pregnant belly added, "I didn't realize you were seeing anyone, Bella."

"Actually, yes, I am," I grumbled, pulling my hand back.

"And who would that be?" she continued.

I sighed, well at least maybe this would quell some of the rumors that I had been messing around on Edward. "I'm engaged to Edward Cullen."

She scoffed, "Edward? Really? I thought you two had quite the falling out regarding the father of your child."

I didn't miss the way she said the baby was mine, like she was pointing out that she knew Edward wasn't the father. "Actually, no. Edward and I are going to get married and raise our daughter together." I gave that a moment to sink in, then added, "Carlisle and Esme are so excited to be grandparents." I think I had her flabbergasted. She just huffed, grabbed her bags and left the store. I just shook my head.

Thirty minutes later I was taking my name tag off and tossing my stuff in my locker. I grabbed my jacket and headed to the parking lot. I was surprised when I didn't see Edward or Carlisle's black Mercedes, he had promised to pick me up. I was surprised when I saw a silver Jaguar pull up and Alice pop out.

"Carlisle gave it to Esme for their anniversary," Alice said, noticing my confusion. "I hope you don't mind, the boys were playing football and it has been so long since any of them have spent time together and been happy . . . ." she trailed off, then started back full speed, "And I really wanted to get to see you and learn more about my little niece in there."

I smiled and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. It was a little awkward at first, but that faded fast. We quickly fell back into our old routine.

"So . . " Alice started, "I couldn't help it." She reached behind the passenger seat and pulled out a beautifully decorated pink gift bag.

I couldn't help but smile as I untied the multitude of colorful ribbons. The first thing I pulled out was an adorable onesie that said 'Momma's Little Angel'. The next item was a gorgeous formal looking dress that Alice explained how honored she would be if it could be the dress she came home in from the hospital. I couldn't help but agree. It was beyond wonderful to have my best friend back again.

We pulled up to the Cullen house a few minutes later and could hear the boys yelling in the back yard clear from the garage. Alice and I made our way through the house, dropping our bags off on the way. I headed out the back door and sat down on the porch steps, watching as Jasper, Emmett, Edward and Carlisle were all playing football.

"It's so good to have you back Bella," Esme said, taking a seat next to me and handing me a cold glass of lemonade.

I smiled and leaned against her. "It's really good to be back. I missed you all so much."

Esme wrapped her arm around me and kissed the top of my head.

Edward seemed to notice me then and immediately came running over. He was out of breath and dripping with sweat, but I didn't care. He immediately bent down and gently kissed my lips, then bent down further and placed a kiss on my expanded belly. "And how are my favorite girls?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Always so much better when we're around our favorite boy."

Edward smirked and took a seat behind me, allowing me to lean against him.

"So, have you all thought about when you want to get married?" Esme asked, taking a sip of her own lemonade.

Edward shrugged, "Whenever Bella wants is fine by me."

Honestly, I hadn't thought much about it. Everything had been such a whirlwind that I hadn't really had a chance to think things through. "What about next summer?" I proposed, tilting my head back so I could look at Edward. "I'd really rather wait until after this one is here and things calm down a little bit."

Edward leaned forward to quickly kiss me again. "Sounds good to me, Love."

Esme smiled, clapping her hands together. I was glad we were having this conversation with Esme and not Alice, she probably would've already had the whole thing planned out.

"Speaking of this little one," Edward started, reaching around to run his hands along my belly, "Have you thought about what you want to name her?"

I covered his hands with my own as he rubbed my stretched belly. "I think we should both think about it and decide together."

Edward's brows scrunched together, "You mean in all this time you haven't thought of anything?"

"I've got a couple of ideas, but nothing I'm dead set on. And I would much rather come to a decision on this with you. You and me together – remember. You promised."

Edward's smile extended and I don't think there was anything that could've wiped it off his face at that moment. "Yes, I did."

* * *

"I don't want you to leave," I mumbled through my tears, gripping onto Edward. It was Sunday afternoon and we were at SeaTac waiting for Edward's flight back to New Hampshire. Esme had come with us, not wanting me to have to drive back by myself. Alice and Jasper had both flown back to Texas the previous day.

"I'll stay," Edward mumbled, holding me just as tight and burying his face against the top of my head.

I knew Edward meant what he was saying. All I had to do was say the word and he would forget about his classes and all the work he had done to stay with me. "No," I mumbled, almost incoherent, "You've worked too hard. You have to go."

"I'll be back on Friday, I already bought my ticket." Edward had insisted on coming back practically every weekend from now until the baby was born. I couldn't fight with him much on that, I was being selfish and I knew it. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with him.

The airline crew was making the final boarding call for Edward's flight, so I reluctantly pushed away from him. "Go. But call me when you get there, and again when you get everything settled."

Edward chuckled, "Okay, Love. I promise." He gave me another quick kiss and turned to head toward the terminal. "I love you," he called before disappearing through the door.

Esme pulled me into her arms immediately, knowing I was going to lose it. "I don't want him to leave," I sobbed into her shoulder.

"I know, Sweetie," she said calmingly, holding me and running her hand down my hair. Esme could be almost as comforting as Edward at times. "He'll be home next weekend though," she whispered, "And before you know it, it will be the end of the semester and you two won't have to be separated again."

I managed to take a few deep calming breaths and followed Esme back out to the car.

As promised, Edward called when his plane landed, and again when he had gotten his stuff loaded up and moved to Seth's. I felt bad that he would be sleeping on a couch for the next month and a half, but I felt so much better knowing he would not be under the same roof as Victoria. Seth had been more than accommodating for Edward to stay with him. Honestly, I think Seth just wanted some company. Most of Edward's stuff ended up in storage, but we would be able to take it out when we found an apartment this fall. Things were actually looking up for once.

Things continued to go smoother and smoother over the next few weeks. Edward and I talked on the phone all the time and when we couldn't, we sent frequent e-mails. He was staying at Seth's but had been looking for a place for us. He seemed so happy. I was absolutely thrilled.


	16. Chapter 16

BPOV

"Right this way, Miss Swan," the nurse said as she led me back to the patient area. She had me step on the scale and had me pee in a cup. Standard operating procedure around here it seems. She led me into a patient room and had me sit on the cloth covered table while she proceeded to take my blood pressure and temperature. She frowned as she wrote the numbers down on the chart.

"The doctor will be with you shortly," she stated, exiting through a different door.

I could hear the hushed voices outside my door and wondered what they could be so concerned about already, they hadn't done anything with the baby. I didn't have long to contemplate it as there was a soft knock at my door.

"Come in," I called, fidgeting with the paper on the cot.

Dr. Gerandy smiled as he entered, "So, Miss Swan, I hear congratulations are in order."

I couldn't help but grin at him, "You've been talking to Carlisle."

Dr. Gerandy beamed back at me, "Yes, I have. I must say, he's quite thrilled at the prospect of having you as a daughter-in-law. Not to mention the joys of being a grandparent."

"I'm so glad they're back in my life." I took a deep breath, reveling in the changes of the past few weeks.

"So, have you and Edward decided what you are going to do?" he asked as he began his exam. I had never been a big fan of hospitals, but Dr. Gerandy was growing on me. He had such a good bedside manner. I quickly filled him in on our plans to spend the summer in Forks and about spending the semester in New Hampshire. He was very supportive in our decisions.

"Sounds like you two have thought this through well," he mused, pulling his gloves off and disposing of them in the trash. "Bella, I'm a little concerned about your elevated blood pressure."

The nurse had never told me what my blood pressure was, but I now figured that was what her frown was about.

Dr. Gerandy called the nurse back in to recheck my blood pressure while he continued to flip through my chart. This time he frowned when the nurse handed him the numbers.

"How bad?" I asked, my stomach already starting to do flip flops. Everything was finally going right. I should've known it wouldn't stay that way.

He sighed and sat down in the chair next to the cot I was sitting on, my chart on his lap. "Your blood pressure is running pretty high. Unfortunately, that's pretty concerning in pregnant women and can cause all kinds of complications. I'd like to keep you in the hospital overnight to keep an eye on it. We'll probably have to keep you on bedrest for awhile too."

I scrunched my nose at the thought of having to stay in the hospital and being on bedrest indefinitely, but if it would help my daughter I would do it. "But I only have to stay in the hospital one night?"

"If everything checks out okay, yeah, you can go home tomorrow." He put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Janie will get you to a room and help make you comfortable. I need you to stay in bed as much as possible. No getting up and walking around, you can get up to go to the bathroom and that is it."

A short while later Janie returned with a wheelchair and wheeled me into an inpatient room. They had me change into a gown and drew a bunch of blood. I went ahead and called the grocery store, informing them that I wouldn't be in for a few days. I called Charlie, doing my best not to freak him out. He offered to run by the newspaper and pick up my paperwork so I could at least be a little productive while I was stuck here.

I called Jake next, asking if he would be willing to go to Charlie's and bring me my laptop and some pajamas. I did not want to be stuck wearing this ugly, uncomfortable hospital gown with no back. Jake immediately agreed, saying he would swing by as soon as he was done at work.

I sighed, knowing my next phone call needed to be Edward. I knew I would feel better if I talked to him, but I didn't want to worry him. I pulled my phone back out and quickly dialed his number, not realizing until it clicked to voicemail that he would still be in class. I quickly left him a message with the pertinent information and ordering him not to worry, after all, I felt perfectly fine.

By 7pm I had a room full of visitors. Charlie and Jacob had brought me my clothes, laptop and paperwork for work. Carlisle and Esme both stopped by to check on me. Esme even brought me homemade mushroom ravioli, my favorite. "In case you don't care for what the hospital serves," she said, giving me a wink. We both knew that the food from Forks General left a lot to be desired.

Esme and Carlisle didn't stay long, neither did Charlie. I couldn't help but smile when Esme produced a plate of ravioli for my father. He started to protest, but Esme argued, telling him he shouldn't stress me out any more by him not having a decent meal. That was all the convincing it took for Charlie to head home with a plate full of food.

Jake stayed and watched a couple of movies with me while I typed up my work for the newspaper. "Night Bells," I heard him whisper as he lifted the laptop off of me and gently kissed my forehead. I had been fading in and out for the last half hour at least. It briefly occurred to me that I still hadn't heard from Edward, which was very strange. I knew I told him not to worry, but he never listens when I tell him that anyway. I couldn't imagine why he wouldn't have called me. I was still having disgruntled thoughts about Edward not calling when I drifted back to sleep.

EPOV

I was walking back to my car after classes for the day when my phone beeped, alerting me to a message. I pulled the phone out as I tossed my bag into the passenger seat. I smiled, hearing Bella's cheerful voice. My smile faded fast though as I listened to her tell me that there was something wrong with her blood pressure and she was going to have to stay in the hospital overnight. She sounded okay though, as she told me not to worry. Like that was possible. The first call I made was to my father, asking him everything he would tell me about high blood pressure and pregnant women. He listed off the complications of preeclampsia and promised he would head directly over to check on Bella. My next call was to the airline. I don't know why I thought I could do this, it was hard enough to be away from Bella when she was perfectly healthy and we hadn't had the complications we had just been through, now it was unbearable. I had just enough time to run back to the apartment I was sharing with Seth and pack a bag before booking it to the airport.

It was after midnight when I arrived back in Forks. I told the cab driver to take me directly to the hospital and threw a couple of $20's over the seat at him. I noticed Jenny immediately, she had been a nurse for years and had helped my father on occasion. She just grinned when she saw me.

"How is she?" I demanded.

"She's okay. Blood pressure is doing a little better. Doc's going to put her on bedrest if she wants out of here. She was asking Dr. C about you. She's in room 210," she told me, pointing me in the right direction. The hallways were quiet with the occasional beeping of monitors and call lights. I entered Bella's room slowly, not sure what I was going to encounter. The sight I did was beautiful. Bella was dressed in one of my t-shirts and a pair of blue flannel pajama bottoms. She kicked at the blankets, which were tangled around her feet, muttering something unintelligible in her sleep. I carefully untangled the blankets and pulled them up to cover her, tucking them up under her chin. I picked up the chair in the corner of the room and moved it up next to Bella's bed, reaching out to take her hand.

"Edward," she mumbled in her sleep, sighing contentedly as her hand tightened in my hand.

I leaned against the bed, resting my head on my outstretched arm and looking into the face of my own personal angel.

I don't know how long I slept, but I was awoken by Bella's soft hand running through my hair. "Hey," I said quietly, looking up at her. Her hair was cascading down around her face and she was looking at me with such a look of adoration and love, her hand still softly running through my hair.

"Hey," she said back, just as quietly. Her hand reached behind my head, gently pulling me towards her for a quick chaste kiss. She gave me a slight smile, "I thought I told you not to worry."

"Yeah, right. Not possible." I said, reaching up to hold her tightly in my arms. "Mmm, I don't want to let you go," I admitted after holding her for a few moments, burying my face in the crook of her neck.

One of her arms was tightly around me, the other hand buried in my hair holding me close. "Then don't," she whispered, planting a quick kiss on my temple.

I sighed and eventually pulled myself away from her. She scooted over and patted the spot next to her in bed, indicating for me to climb in bed with her. I climbed up, pulling her to me, allowing her to rest her head against my chest.

"So how are you feeling?"

Bella shrugged, holding herself tightly to me. "The same as I told you yesterday in my message. I feel fine. They just say my blood pressure is a little too high," she sighed, and all was quiet for a few minutes. "Thank You, Edward."

"For what?" I was genuinely confused.

I felt her tears dampen my t-shirt, "For coming home," she stuttered.

Dr. Gerandy came in awhile later and I was never so grateful to have come home. Bella would've downplayed all of this. Dr. Gerandy said her blood pressure wasn't down as much as he wanted and told us that Bella needed to stay at least another night in the hospital. He also insisted that Bella was going to have to remain on bedrest after she was discharged. We both got the lecture – absolute bedrest, she would only be allowed out of bed to go to the bathroom. She would be living in a bed until her blood pressure improved.

It was a few hours later when Bella finally kicked me out of her room. I was starving and told her I was just going to run down to the cafeteria to grab something, but she insisted I go home and see Esme and Carlisle and get something better than hospital food. I agreed, but only because I knew that I needed to have a conversation with my parents, one that would go over much better if Bella wasn't present. I quickly found my father and asked to borrow his car so I could run home.

"Hey Mom," I called as I walked into the house, tossing the keys onto the table just inside the door.

"Edward?" she questioned, then squeeled when she saw me. Apparently word hadn't gotten to Esme that I came home. "Oh baby," she cried, taking in my haggard state. I'm sure I looked worse than I felt. I still had my rumpled clothes on from the previous day and I'm sure my hair was even messier than normal. "Is Bella okay?" she demanded.

I sighed, running my hand through the mess of hair I had. "Yeah, she will be. That's actually what I came to talk to you about."

An hour later Esme and I were sitting in the breakfast nook munching on sandwiches and chips that she had put together. She had pushed me upstairs to take a shower and change clothes while she had gotten the food together. I glanced out the bay window. It was another rainy, dreary day in Forks.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Esme asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I have a huge favor to ask of you," I started.

Esme nodded, waving her hand for me to continue.

"Dr. Gerandy says Bella has to stay on strict bedrest indefinitely. She's not allowed out of bed until her blood pressure improves or until she has the baby. The thing is, you know how independent Bella is. Charlie can't take that much time off of work, not to mention he can't cook to save his soul. They'd both like to starve to death. She'd be left alone all the time . . . " I continued rambling until I felt Esme's hand covering mine.

"Edward, do you want Bella to come stay with us?"

I nodded, "I know it's a lot to ask. And you know I would stay and do this in a heartbeat, but Bella is so adamant about me finishing the semester that I think it would stress her out even more and that wouldn't help her blood pressure."

Esme squeezed my hand that she was still holding. "Edward, your father and I love Bella like she was our own. Of course she can stay here."

I stood and hugged my mom, holding her tight and finally letting the stress of the situation get to me. "I . . I just love her so much."

Esme held me back, "I know you do Sweetheart, and she loves you too." She paused for a moment, then continued. "She will be fine. Your father and I will take good care of her until you come back."

I spent another thirty minutes talking to my mom before insisting I needed to get back to the hospital. I swung by the police station on my way to run my idea by Charlie. He wasn't thrilled, insisting he could take care of his own daughter, but eventually relented. Having a mother that could be with her 24/7 and a live-in doctor as a father did have its advantages. The two easy ones were done, now I just had to convince Bella.

I returned back to the hospital to find Bella working on her computer. "Hey Beautiful," I called, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

"Hey Handsome," she replied with a smile.

"You hungry?" I asked, pulling her bedside table up next to her.

She eyed the bag in my hand, quickly moving her computer off her lap and rubbing her hands together. "Starving. What'ya bring me?"

She grinned from ear to ear as I pulled out a sandwich and chips my mom had sent with me. "You are the best," she mumbled, food already in her mouth. I couldn't help but laugh at her. "The nurse says my blood pressure was a little better," she announced proudly after she was done eating.

"That's great. Maybe we can break you out of here tomorrow then." I climbed up next to her in the bed, putting my arm around her shoulders. "About that, Bells, we need to talk."

Bella swallowed hard and looked away. "Yeah, I kind of figured this was coming." She turned and poked a finger into my chest suddenly. "You are finishing the semester at Dartmouth."

"Kind of figured you'd say that," I started. "I have a proposition for you though, if you want me to go back to school and not go completely insane with worry."

"Okay . . . " Bella stated slowly.

I quickly ran through my plan of Bella staying with my parents, making sure to tell her that my parents and Charlie were already on board with the plan. "I can take care of myself," she huffed.

"Bella . . . " I warned. "You have to have someone with you all of the time. Esme will already be home. Are you really going to force Charlie to take all that time off?"

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly. I knew she wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone, but she knew what a hardship it would be for Charlie to take the time off.

I smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

She wrapped her arm around me, "I love you too."

We spent the evening in her hospital bed, flipping between NCIS and Law and Order. Bella had several visitors that evening. Charlie came and talked for a little while, insisting to Bella that if she wanted to come home that he would figure out how to take the time off. Bella had come up with a compromise with him too. Bella had asked if he would be in charge of bringing her the paperwork for her job at the newspaper. Once she had the paper copies, she could type it and submit it back to them online. Charlie seemed pleased to have something to do to be able to help with the situation.

My parents and Jake also stopped by. My mom went on and on about all of the things the two of them could do together. Only my mother could come up with that much entertainment for someone on bedrest. Jake's visit didn't go quite as smoothly. He still hadn't forgiven me for everything Bella had gone through. He was civil, for Bella's sake, but kept shooting me evil glares and was pretty short when addressing me.

"Hey B," I asked later that evening once everyone had left.

"Yeah?"

"What all did you tell your dad and Jake about our . . situation?"

Bella sighed. "Yeah, I guess I need to fill Jake in a little more. I just didn't want everyone to know everything about this," she paused for a moment before continuing, "My Dad knows everything. I told him how worried I was and how I was too chicken to tell you about the baby. It took a lot of convincing to keep him from flying out to New Hampshire and taking a shot at Victoria," she giggled, "or you for that matter."

"Me?"

Bella smiled, leaning up to place a quick kiss on my lips. "Yeah, you. I finally admitted you were the father of our baby. He wasn't exactly thrilled about you knocking up his little girl."

I smiled, knowing the chief was okay with our situation. I think our separation had actually helped in that aspect. He had seen Bella so completely down and unhappy, that he would've been happy with anything that made her smile again. And she was definitely smiling more now that we were back together.

"Okay, so what about Jake?"

"He knows we're back together and knows that you never intentionally meant to leave me. I told him it was all a big misunderstanding that we were both to blame for."

I nodded, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll tell him to back off," she muttered, turning to lay her head against my chest.

I knew it had been a long day for her. I quickly turned the overhead light off and pulled the blankets up around us. "Good night, my sweet Bella."

Dr. Gerandy came in early the next afternoon, Bella's chart in hand.

"Well Dear, it looks like your blood pressure has improved. I've been informed you will be staying with the Cullens while you are on bedrest," he asked, verifying.

"Yeah," Bella muttered. I could tell she still wasn't happy with this whole bedrest situation.

"Well, if you've gotten those arrangements made, I don't see why you couldn't go ahead and go home today. I'll have the nurse get your discharge paperwork together."

Thirty minutes later Bella was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and was waiting quite impatiently in a wheelchair while the nurse went over her discharge instructions with us. I wheeled Bella down to her car while the nurse wheeled a cart full of her belongings. Jasper and Alice had sent a large bouquet of flowers along with some balloons. Honestly, I think Alice just still felt guilty about how she had treated Bella when we were apart. Emmett had driven up from Seattle today and brought Bella a soft little teddy bear. I couldn't have been more grateful for my family's involvement.

I drove to Bella's house first, demanding she stay in the car while I went up and got the belongings she wanted. Bella wanted to stop by the library on our way to my house, but I refused. She really needed to get back in to bed and lay down. I did promise to go and pick her books up before I had to head back to New Hampshire though. As much as I hated the idea of leaving, I really did need to head back tomorrow night if I was going to avoid missing too many classes. I helped Bella in to the house and up to my bedroom where she would be staying. I quickly unloaded her belongings, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. I think even this little bit of activity was hard on Bella because when I got the last bit unloaded she was already asleep. I quietly set the flowers on my night stand and shut the lights off, sneaking out of the room. I decided I should probably go ahead and run to the library since they would be closed tomorrow.

I got to the library, wandering to the health section. Forks library wasn't very big, but they did have a few books on Pregnancy and even one that had a large section on preeclampsia that I decided to pick up. I wanted to know what was going on with Bella and our child.

Bella had just woken up when I arrived back at the house. She was curled up on the bed, her worn copy of Wuthering Heights in her hands. She smiled when I walked in the room, setting her books next to the bed.

I spent the next 24 hours curled up in bed with Bella. I read to her, we watched TV and listened to music. I sighed, throwing the last few things in my bag. My dad was taking me to the airport in an hour.

"When do you get to come home again?" Bella asked in a small voice.

"Well, I could just stay," I offered, looking over at her.

"No. That is not an option," she stated soundly.

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "I probably need to stay there next weekend to catch up for being gone now, but I can come home the weekend after that. Esme is going to take you to your doctor's appointment this Friday, but I'm hoping I will be back to go with you the next week."

Bella nodded, fiddling with the sheets. "That sounds good. At least I can still call and e-mail you," she muttered, almost to herself.

I leaned forward, my fingers under her chin, lifting it so she could look at me. "I wouldn't accept anything less."

Bella leaned forward to hug me, holding on tightly. "I love you," she whispered into my neck.

"I love you too," I told her, "and if you need anything at all, you call me. Day or night, okay."

Bella wiped the tears from her eyes, "Okay."

There was a quiet knock at the door. "Edward, we need to get going," Carlisle said softly, not wanting to intrude.

"Okay," I said, standing and picking up my bag. I turned back to Bella, "I'll call you as soon as I land, okay?"

Bella nodded, so I quickly kissed her forehead and turned to walk out the door. I knew if I didn't leave now I wouldn't.

The ride to the airport was a quiet one. I did not like the idea of being so far away from Bella.

"We'll take good care of her son," my dad said seriously, patting me on the shoulder, "I promise."

I nodded, knowing Bella was in the best possible hands. With that, I got out of the car and headed for my gate. These next two weeks were going to be torture.


End file.
